Employer, Insurer Trying to Stop Workers Compensation Benefits, Pennsylvania

THE WORKERS' COMP CARRIER IS TRYING TO STOP MY PENNSYLVANIA COMPENSATION BENEFITS! WHAT DO I DO?

If you have an acknowledged claim and you are receiving workers' compensation benefits, the workers’ compensation insurance carrier may be very aggressive in seeking ways to cut off your benefits. In some cases, they may simply send you a "Notice Stopping Temporary Compensation" and attempt to deny any disability relating to the work injury, even if you have already missed time and you are still disabled from your prior full duty job or you are working with restrictions or limited hours. You need to fight this. I will be in your corner.

In many other cases, the employer and insurer will send you to an "independent medical examination" with a doctor they have carefully hand-picked and whose pockets they have handsomely stuffed. When this doctor claims you are capable of returning to work, whether in your old job or in some form of light duty, you will receive a "Notice of Ability to Return to Work". This puts you on notice that the insurance carrier has decided that you are ready to work and warns of legal consequences of not returning to work. This notice is often followed by a specific job offer from your employer for return to light duty or full duty work. Or, you might get a letter from an insurance "vocational expert" whose role will be to identify jobs generally available in the market place. You might even be told to apply for specific job openings, or the vocational expert might simply go back to her desk and try to list available jobs in a "labor market survey". Either way, the purpose is to give the employer evidence to cut off your compensation.

When this stuff happens, the insurance company cannot legally just stop paying your benefits. They must file a petition before a Judge. This would be a petition to Modify, Suspend, or Terminate benefits. These petitions nearly always include a request for "supersedeas" - meaning the employer and insurer expect the judge to stop your benefits NOW, if they have an “independent” medical examination report to show the Judge. The very first thing a Judge will do in your case will be to accept and review that supersedeas evidence. If the request for supersedeas is granted, your benefits will stop. It is therefore essential that you have an attorney representing you before this happens.

In fact, for every step taken by the insurance carrier toward its goal of cutting off your benefits, there are steps you can and should be taking to protect your own rights. You should be in contact with my office as early as possible for advice and guidance. I strongly encourage you to contact me before you appear for any "independent" medical examination scheduled by the insurance carrier. Even if you decide at that point that you do not yet need formal representation, I will be happy to speak with you. I could then be in a position to monitor your claim before your benefits are put in jeopardy in litigation with a Workers' Compensation Judge.