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Insurance

Minneapolis fireman fights insurance rules, too

03/12/2009

In his 25 years on the Minneapolis Fire Department, Thomas Davison fought a series of debilitating health conditions along with the fires he helped put out. He also had to fight the department to obtain health benefits.

Legislative auditor calls for workers’ comp ombudsman

03/12/2009

Minnesota’s Office of the Legislative Auditor claims Minnesota workers’ compensation insurers underpaid benefits by about $3 million last year. An auditor’s report charged in February that insurers frequently reject legitimate claims.

How long do we need to hold job for employee out for workers’ comp injury?

03/12/2009

Q. Is an employer required to keep a job open for an employee who is out on an indefinite leave due to a workers’ compensation injury? Does the employee have an automatic right to get put back into the same job he was doing right before he was injured?

Stimulus law shakes up COBRA, other HR programs

03/09/2009

Amid the billions of dollars for roads and industry bailouts, the $789 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 signed on Feb. 17 by President Obama includes a handful of important HR-related provisions. Comp and benefits pros must act immediately to comply with some of these provisions.

Free health perks help wellness, recruiting

03/09/2009

Full-time employees of Lehigh Valley Hospital & Health Network don’t pay for health insurance. Plus, the organization hands them a fistful of “wellness dollars”—$700 to be exact—to spend on anything from gym memberships to massage therapy. Not only does the program help current employees, but also it has improved recruiting.

Employees with special-needs kids get improved medical coverage

03/09/2009

Parents of disabled kids who work for data management firm NetApp have access to enhanced health benefits to cover speech, occupational and physical therapy. Any child up to 12 years old who is diagnosed with a developmental delay or disorder is covered.

Take it seriously when doctor limits employee’s duties

03/09/2009

Employers ask for trouble when they ask workers to violate doctor’s orders. Train supervisors to honor medical restrictions. It will help the company in workers’ comp cases as well as ADA and FMLA situations. The following case illustrates the perils of playing fast and loose with physician certifications recommending light duty.

What do the workers’ comp rules say about employee’s flexibility to choose a psychiatrist?

03/09/2009

Q. An injured employee has requested a change of psychiatrist under Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Act. He never visited the originally assigned treating psychiatrist. Must we give the employee a choice of three other psychiatrists?

Can employee on workers’ comp who has already changed doctors now pick out a specialist?

03/09/2009

Q. One of our employees who is receiving workers’ compensation benefits and receiving treatment for a work-related accident already changed his primary care doctor once. He now wants to change to an orthopedic physician. Is he entitled to another physician in a different medical specialty?

Worker not returning from FMLA leave? Terminate, but pay benefits for full 12 weeks

03/06/2009

What should you do if you learn that an employee who is out on FMLA leave will not be able to return when her 12 weeks of unpaid leave are up? If you are absolutely sure that she can’t claim she is disabled under the ADA, you can terminate her. But you still must continue providing any benefits she was receiving while on FMLA leave, such as medical premium payments.