🚀 go-pugleaf

george conklin (george@nccu.edu) wrote:
: In article <jzeroCuoCp0.M9M@netcom.com> jzero@netcom.com (Jim Nakamura) writes:
: >Another Outraged Worker <OW@fubar.com> writes:
: >
: >> For all those people living in the Bay Area who happen to have been
: >> injured on the job, I'd like to issue the following warnings:
: >
: >> 1. If the workers comp insurance company that your employer is using
: >>    is called "CNA", be highly suspicious of them. They are extremely 
: >>    shifty and will use any and all means to ensure that your claim 
: >>    will not be taken seriously and they will make any and all attempt 
: >>    at skirting around workers comp laws. Furthermore, do not trust
: >>    any doctor whom they recommend or to whom they send you. If a doctor
: >>    or his nurse claims to have worked with CNA extensively before, then
: >>    find another. The local workers compensation industry is, to be blunt,
: >>    a racket -- a scam -- and CNA is an established player in this
: >>    ongoing debacle.

Some people in medical circles refer to offices filled with doctors who 
do nothing but medical evaluations for insurance companies "insurance 
mills."   The only reason for an injured worker to visit an insurance 
mill is for the mandated examination(s) by "their" doctor(s) that an 
insurance company is entitled by law to demand of a worker.  For care and 
advocacy, workers should find independent physicians in private 
practice. 

: >> 2. If you can avoid dealing with occuptional health doctors named either
: >>    Lowengart or Pugh, both working on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, then
: >>    do so. Both of these doctors not only have very little if any competence,
: >>    but they offset their lack of ability by an unusual flair for
: >>    playing along with the Workers Comp Industry Scam. Yes folks, 
: >>    They lie. They cheat. They'd probably even push a button to get a chunk 
: >>    of banana, if you paid them to ...

Some doctors rely heavily on referrals from insurance companies, as do 
some hospitals.  Unfortunately, practical politics often leads them to 
do everything in their power to come up with findings that the insurance 
company would prefer them to make.

: >> Hence I say, PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS; the medical con-artist class will not.

This is good advice. It usually comes from hindsight.  When a worker is 
sick or injured, the instinctive reaction to doctors and insurers is to 
seek help.  If bad faith exists, (and, not infrequently, it does), the 
worker is often manipulated into a position that will prejudice later 
administrative hearings in favor of the insurer.

: >	The unfortunate thing about Workers Comp is that you
: >	give up your right to civil action.  It's a trade off.
: >	In return for govt intervention, you generally lose your 
: >	right to sue your employer in court.  Unfortunately, abuse
: >	has been a two way street.  

Right.  This is called " ... the doctrine of 'exclusive remedy.'"
Since worker comp. insurance is mandated by law, the employer who meets 
this legal obligation is protected from civil litigation from employees.  
However, shortcomings of worker comp carriers and the  administrative 
hearing process which is the sole means or recourse for an injured 
worker have led many workers to feel that their real interests are not 
represented in the system.

The problem is, like so many other spheres, that workers who aren't 
injured never think to check to see if they are really protected.  By the 
time they discover that they are, in effect, un-insured, it is far too 
late to fix.
-- 
Glen Kohler, CMT
Health Arts Wellness Services
P.O. Box 9719  Berkeley, CA  94709
510-845-8485