Thanksgiving (?) News from the New York Injured Workers' Alliance (NYIWA)

Posted by NYIWA on November 23, 2010

BUSTED SELF-INSURED BUSTED AGAIN FOR IMPROPER POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

A forensic audit submitted to the WCB on 09/21/10 revealed that Health Care Providers Self-Insurance Trust [HCPSIT] channeled $900,000 to the Health Care Providers PAC between 1995 and 2008.  The trust was put out of business by the agency on July 1, 2009.

 

A New York Workers' Compensation Board spokesperson stated that it had issued oral and written warnings to HCPSIT as early as 2004 that its political activities violated state law. No comment was made as to the Board’s subsequent actions over the five-year span or whether the Board informed other agencies concerning its findings.

 

In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash...

 

IMPLEMENTATION OF TREATMENT GUIDELINES PROSPECT DIFFICULTIES FOR PHYSICIANS

 

The Medical Society of the State of NY [MSSNY] and the state AFL-CIO challenged the WCB’s intent to apply the newly adopted medical treatment guidelines effective 12/01/10 to all claims regardless of when they occurred or the date of accident.

The two organizations pointed to the disruption of existing and approved treatment plans and protocols and called upon the WCB to apply the new guidelines only to claims after the effective date to avoid overloading the newly created “variance” appeal process (see "Variance" form here). MSSNY characterized the Board’s plan as one that will create “bottlenecks” in the system requiring treating physicians to revamp existing treatment plans.

The WCB’s spokesperson indicated the agency is adamant and intends to apply the guidelines to all claims. It appears the Board continues its headlong determination not to hear any criticisms, suggestions, or complaints.

It’s always good to be correct 100% of the time...

 

CONGRESS INQUIRES ABOUT STATE COST SHIFTING WC TO FEDERAL SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY PROGRAM

 

A Congressional subcommittee [Workforce Protection] of the House Labor Committee has launched an inquiry into cost-shifting from state workers’ compensation programs to Social Security and Medicare.

One mechanism cited by critics was the AMA whole person impairment process adopted in many states.   Witnesses, including the Iowa State Workers' Compensation Commisioner, testified that the AMA guides were developed in “near secrecy” and have become a means for a non-governmental organization’s publication,  developed without public comment, to transfer costs to the federal government.

Although invited by Congress, the AMA declined to testify...

 

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) said: “Beginning in the 1990’s, changes in state workers’ compensation laws –brought about by the lobbying efforts of employers and insurance companies – have resulted in stricter eligibility requirements and the reduction in both the amount and duration of benefits, particularly for those workers with permanent partial disabilities. Unfortunately, this grand bargain of the 20th century is not so grand any more, especially for injured workers.”

The cost-shifting prospect of NY’s 2007 reforms effecting duration limits on indemnity benefits was pointed out in late 2006 as rumors of the pending durations surfaced.

So much for history and the grand bargain...Stay tuned.

The Park Street Gang: They Were Blind and Deaf ... Now They Are Lame

Posted by NYIWA on September 28, 2010

Op-ed by James McCarthy, Esq.

While it is essential to sustain a dialogue and cooperative relationship with the New York State Workers' Compensation Board, it is unfortunate that the current administration, as well as its predecessors, have been largely “deaf and blind” to the rights of injured workers.  Now, a lame duck administration appears poised to implement “legacy” policies and procedures.  Might these actions be about protecting political job at the Board?   

 

Since the 1996 Omnibus Reform Act, the bureaucracy that has settled and propagated itself at the WCB headquarters in Albany (20 Park Street) has created a hegemony over the state’s workers’ compensation system.  An entrenched junta of anti-claimant civil servants has continued to impose its vision of a legal system that defies legislative purpose and compromises the rights of injured workers. 

 

Within the last month, Park Street issued its list of items for its Streamlined Conciliation Process after its leadership met with a NYS Bar Committee of claimant and defense attorneys. This list was never discussed with the committee members. At the same time, a proposed draft of regulations surfaced concerning cross-examination procedures, an issue that certainly should have been discussed with the State Bar committee. 

 

This behavior has also been evident recently in the Park Street revision of the procedure for decisions concerning schedule loss of use claims.  Without consultation, the WCB gang has determined – by administrative fiat – how to implement permanency benefits without a hearing and in ways that violate existing law. 

 

These documents are in the context of previous intransigent conduct.  Despite strong objections from state legislators and their committees, the Park Street gang has spent nearly $1 million for a digital recording system to replace live stenographers; defied the legislature’s interpretation of the right to a hearing; failed to create a process for WAMO settlements; failed to seek advice and counsel from claimant and defense attorneys; diminished the independence of its judiciary; and radically altered the system’s jurisprudence, among others. 

Now, with only a few months remaining in the present state leadership, the Park Street gang is preparing a series of “legacy” proposals to encumber the system into the future.  These proposals appear as lame as the ducks who author them.  It’s axiomatic that bureaucratic cleansings are most thorough upon the succession of the same party to leadership.   

 

This may be the major motivation that surrounds the secrecy that the Park Street gang’s behavior.  On one day, it meets with a NYS Bar group to discuss an issue and, on the next, it releases a different set of agenda items.  At the same time, the gang is developing regulations for cross-examination without seeking consideration of the attorneys who are to be bound by them.  There is no reason to believe the gang does not understand what it is doing.  This behavior has typified Park Street’s modus operandi since the mid-1990’s. 

 

Those in the Park Street bureau who may survive in the post-November era will be a signal as to the direction of the new administration.  Who guards the guardians?

New York Workers' Compensation Board Receives Long Awaited "Disability Duration Guidelines"

Posted by NYIWA on September 16, 2010

The New York State Insurance Department just released their Proposed "Disability Duration Guidelines" to the New York State Workers Compensation Board along with the Disability Duration Guidelines Transmittal Letter to Chairman Beloten.pdf.  This 108 page proposal is the result of nearly three years of work by the "Medical Guidelines Task Force", created by the 2007 Workers' Compensation Reform Law, to implement fair impairment guides in permanent partial disability (PPD) cases.

Our own New York Injured Workers Alliance Treasurer, James McCarthy, Esq., participated on this task force at the request of the New York State AFL-CIO and will be present a Continuing Legal Education Seminar (CLE) on the new Guidelines at the upcoming New York Injured Workers' Bar Association in Albany on October 2, 2010.

Until then, please read the new Disability Duration Guidelines carefully and feel free to post comments below. In addition, bring your questions to the IWBA Conference on October 2nd so that we may benefit from every one's input on this major potential change in the way permanent partial disabilities are determined at the New York Workers Compensation Board.  Hope to see you there!