That's The Right Thing To Do!! (Long)
 

Just stop for a moment! You process WC on one of your employees because he quote unquote hurt his lower back on the job. You do the right thing. Take down all the necessary information and you immediately call it in to the WC Insurance. Because "That's the right thing to do". You send him off to the local medical center to be looked at immediately and even have another co-worker driver him so he isn't in more discomfort! Because "That's the right thing to do". He gets x-rays, etc and is told to stay out of work for a week. Not a problem. You tell him to take his prescribed muscle relaxers and take it easy and everything will be okay. Because "That's the right thing to do".

Week later doctor's office calls you and tells you he needs to go see a specialist because with all of his complaining he might have a more serious problem. So without hesitation you agree and off he goes. The next thing you hear he will be out of work for six to eight months for lower back disk injury and will require surgery. Oh No! you think how awful. You call him and tell him you are prepared to help him in any way you can.

NOW I STEP INTO THE PICTURE!!:D :D

4 months later I am driving home from work one day and low and behold there he is!!!! Way up high on the roof of a local building shingling away!! Hmmmmmm! It's A Miracle!!! No wait It's...It's FRAUD!!! Being that I live only 2 more minutes from my home, I scurry to my house and grab my trusty ole camera. Yuppers!!! Be A Star!! Strike A Pose!!! I took about 40 pictures of this MORON!! Digital camera of course and almost peeed myself as I rushed home to upload the pictures onto my computer so I could send them off to the WC Insurance.

So I did!!! BAM!! Better than Cooking my friends. They set up surveillance and..... BUSTED! Just like Cops but without "Bad Boys Bad Boys Whatcha Gonna Do? Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You"? playing in the background. So I hummed it for them. It's ambience, what do you expect? Haaa! Let's see - He has been fired! He has to pay back serious WC payments and than some. And he is still waiting trial. He's going to the "Big House"! FORRRR SURE!!!!

So talk about ugly!! Here are we! True legitimate cases of folks some with WC. Who need WC Benefits and yet have to fight government beauracacy and more damm red tape than the law should allow. This is a prime example of why the system is so screweed up. I talk to the young punk after he got "caught", and asked him what he was hoping to accomplish? It wasn't like he didn't know in advance that he wasn't allowed to do this and of course his reply to me was "F**** you" real nice ha! So now I am a local watchdog for WC. I keep an eye out for folks who claim to be unable to wipe there own buttocks and yet for some unexplainable reason can "walk on water"!

I'm a little slow at it right now because I'm dealing with lot of pain, but I'll be up and Adam again real soon. And hopefully someday we can bring the WC Insurance Program back down to a more reasonable user friendly program inwhich it was originally intended to be. I'm sorry this is so long but I really thought this was a neat little story and I wanted to share! :p

Chin Up!!!!

Mark :)

HAIL TO THE WATCHDOG! If there were more of you out there, maybe those who really DID need and deserve wc couild get it without having to fight for it.

GOOD JOB, MARK!

LOL EXACTLY

I know we dont have the w/comp thing here - but disabled badges over here are like gold dust..... and I want to murder people who park stand up and walk totally fine out of a disabled space... or who get DLA (up to $800 a month or so and if you get that then they pay for your vehicle, vehicle insurance, adaptions, maybe housing benefit, incapacity benefit, income support etc etc - so it is the way in to so many benefits) and the amount of people who claim that they can't do a single thing for themselves then stand up and walk fine.

so good on you Mark - definetly did the right thing shopping him.!!!

hope u r ok

Rosie xxx

There is a definite need for people to do the job that you do Mark. I agree with that. In fact my husband would love to do that exact job. And we do know a young man who does do this also.

But Rosie sometimes those people who stand up & walk out of a disabled space really are disabled. They may not appear to be so, but then again they just might be. I know cause I was one of them back from 1991 to 1997. I had a headache from "HELL" every day, hour, minute & second of my life from a severe whiplash injury. The car accident happened on July 6,1991 & the headache stayed until approximately July 1997. Most days I spent in bed with an ice bag. Not one damn pain medicine out there worked on that headache except for Toradol injections, which is an anti-inflammatory med. I could even go to the ER & have a double dose of Neubain, enuf my doctor said to knock an elephant out. Well it didn't do that. I use to give myself Toradol injections at home. It never got rid of that headache but it did dilute the pain to tolerable. During this time I battled Fibromyalgia (I still do). I was able to go to the store with my hubby sometimes. I had to quit driving due to pain etc. When I went to a store or anywhere I could stand up & walk into the store. But we did park in disabled spaces. Walking far was not always easy due to dizziness so the shorter the distance I had to walk the better. The only sign that something was wrong with me was that the left side of my face was swollen & discolored, but you could only see that if you were very close to me. It wasn't grossly swollen. And the fact that my face did show I was in pain. But my head hurt so bad I could barely see. So you just never know. And also, people with Fibromyalgia or Chonic Fatigue hurt all over like a bruise, every muscle hurts even the muscles between your finger joints, & the less far to walk into a store the better, plus you fight exhaustion similar to what we face having RSD. And like me, I have Fibromyalgia, Sjogren's (my joints hurt alot) & RSD in both feet. And sometimes I can walk, sometimes I can't. I can walk into a store sometimes when my hubby lets me off & yes I have to use a cane or crutches, but I head for the store carts & if none are there my hubby brings in my chair or scooter, which ever one is in the car at that time. So don't judge people just because they can walk into a store. And please I am not saying any of this in anger or in anyway meanly (LOL is that a word even?? LOL) to you cause to be honest until I was in that specific circumstance I thought exactly the same way. We sometimes judge without knowing all the facts. I try hard not to do that now, but I don't always succeed either *S*. Oh & yes I did have people make rude comments about where we parked. I knew I deserved a disabled parking plate for my car. For along time I had the placard, & if I felt well enough I didn't use it. Besides I never have had a doctor who would have given me the form to have disabled placards or plate.

Take care & you hang in there ok?? You certainly have a full plate & should be very proud of yourself. Not many young people would be where you are having RSD as severely as you do. You Go Girl!!! And You Rock Girl!!!

And if this makes no sense at all *LOL* ignore it *LOL* I am pretty tired this evening...........boy am I........

DebbyV

I didn't win my claim or get any weekly payments {a denied claim} - but I did stuff while I was on medical leave that probably i shouldn't have. By WC standards anyway.

I wasn't able to work full duties but i wasn't laid out on the couch in pain either.
But I was still too injured to work full time and they didn't want to make anymore modified work for me {I could barely drive to get to work anyway much less open the big doors we had to use}

So I did what I could around the house to keep some level exercise & some level of living- plus the PT and home therapy stuff.
it was summer and I wanted/tried to garden, plus I had the horse to take care and the dogs and cats and famiy.

I wasn't on any meds for pain so maybe they thought I wasn't hurt bad enough {yet}

It took me a long time to figure out about delayed pain {from the TOS/RSI injury}

so i would do a little bit of yard work and then the next few days were bad...
glad I learned that lesson finally.- my limits

Hey Debbie

Maybe I explained myself wrongly!!!!! ooops!

;......as I'm sure you have never parked in a disabled space and then hopped/ skipped/ run out of the car with no limp, no fatigue no obvious pain. I know that people can have invisibleish illnesses but still..

....the people I meant to moan about are the ones that use disabled parking spaces because they can't be bothered to walk --> in that category I am going for people my age who park and then run into the store/ use it to run out and go to the cashpoint etc etc..... or people who believe that having a toddler means that they are disabled etc etc... it wasn't meant as a "EVERYONE HAS TO HAVE A WHEELCHAIR IN ORDER TO HAVE A DISABLED SPACE" lol........

unfortunatly I know I can be overly judgemental, I do try and think it through though (I'm blaming it on my age!) - I guess it's just I get so frustrated when I need the wheelchair spaces and so you sit for ages in the car waiting for people who really didn't need the space (eg who are walking fine, looking fine etc)...

ok digging myself into a hole here ;)

maybe just need to realise I am an overly judgemental person!!!

I'm so glad your headache has gone - that sounds dreadful!!!!

sorry if i offended you!

Rosie xxxx

Yoo Hoo
 

Cybill Here! :cool: Ladies and Gentlemen this is a hot topic for so many folks. Rosie you are so right with your feelings on handicap parking spaces and abuse. I completely concur, and feel there should be tougher penalties for folks that use them and abuse us. And Jo I'm with you there completely. I too would go nuts sitting around all day. I see nothing wrong with a little work around the home.

The purpose of the orginal post's intent was to bring to light the ongoing and ever so present abuse that is happening everyday all over the world (Canada, USA, Europe, etc.) with WC Insurance Fraud. I have been handeling WC claims for about 7 years now and for the most part I would say about 95 to 98 percent of all claims are legit. However, every so often you run into a doosey!

Case in point is the one I originally mentioned. That ended up costing about $250.000.00 US Dollars. If he had not been caught, can you imagine how much more he would have scammed out of our pockets? Ultimately the only ones getting hurt are the folks who work. Your spouses, your young married children with their new borns, etc. I am passionate about doing my small part in keeping this program on the right track. I feel it is the least I can do. It is a great program.

P.S. By the way for those few whose names will remain annonymous (Josie and Artist) I do NOT look like Grandpa Munster!!!! I think my new look resembles a young Cybill Sheperd!! Don't You!!? Ha?? Welll?? Don't Ya???

Chin Up!!!

Cybill :) :)

Handicapped plaque - really need it
 

Yes - I too appear to look perfectly normal. People do not realize how much I am suffering with chronic pain . I can only walk a very short distance as I have full body FM and RSD as well. I park in my handicapped space and look like nothing is wrong with me. However, when I get into the grocery store . Wal Mart, etc.I ride in a cart to do my shopping. People with true disabilities do not often appear disabled. If I had a huge cast on my leg or something then I'd appear more legimate to use the handicapped place. Because FM sufferers do not appear to suffer any physical disablility people often look at me twice when use these space. How unfortunate. If they only new my pain level and true disability they would not be judging me unfairly.
Sydney

Hello: Some people with asthma or COPD have good legs etc. but are unable to walk any distance without running out of breath. I used to have severe asthma as a child and never, ever took a gym class in 12 years of school. Regards, Lil

I still stand by my point though (well. I would if I could).

Lil, Sydney and everyone else who thinks my views are wrong and uninformed

I am sure that with asthma/ RSD/ fibro etc you don't park your car and then run/ skip/ etc into the store?? I am imaging that with all of the conditions it would be a slow hunched walk if you are anything like I used to be and like people I know with fibro/ RSD that walk.

My complaint is not aimed at people who have a condition that means it is difficult but possible for them to walk... but instead at people who treat disabled parking places as a quicker way to get into the shops and which means they avoid paying for parking etc....

are any of you from the UK? you might be able to be a) less offended and b) understand my post better than people from different cultures.

I am not trying to say that people with hidden disabilities shouldn't have parking permits - I'm saying that people who have NO disabilities should definetly not have parking permits or park in disabled bays. Surely this is a concept that we can all agree on?

..........unless you can all hop, skip and run round town/ a supermarket and not spend the next week in immense pain... in which case.... congratulations!

LOL

Rosie xxx

Totally agree!

many times the person driving the car isn't the owner of the car. :(

family members...not a good thing. good when they get caught. :p

ok people enuf, it was only a misunderstanding!!!!
 

Rosie,
Sweetie I am not angry or mad or upset or anything with you or what you said or how you meant it. I soooooooo totally agree with you. People who do NOT have a disability, who do NOTown a placard or license plate, in other words have absolutlely NO BUSINESS parking in a Handicapped parking place are absolutely 150% IDIOTS. No matter what country we live in. In California I think they raised the fine to several hundred dollars if caught doing that exact thing. Only problems is there is never a cop around to do ticket them to begin with.....GRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr yes this is a problem that really raises my hackles.

I did so totally misunderstand what you were saying. We really have to be careful how we word 'things' so that there are as as possible any misunderstandings. I do know that sometimes we are all guilty of miss stating 'things' or not explaining 'them' so that our true meaning comes across plainly.

BUT I didn't say what I said either for other people to fly off the handle & saying things that are hurtful or angry. BUT I was in no way angry, or upset. Just pointing out about the hidden disabilities.

I am so sorry I misunderstood you. Was not my intention of starting a 'feeding frenzy' about hidden disabilities. I wish everyone else would stop snipping at your heels so to speak. I am sorry that you got hurt, but again we all have to make sure we word our opinions, or whatever you want to call them so that they say what we want them to say better. I am guilty myself especially when incensed over something near & dear to my heart. Sometimes I open my mouth & insert my foot & I have big feet *ROFL*

For that I apologize to one & all.

DebbyV

Hey Debbie

LOL it's ok - I re read my post and it wasn't very clear! no offence taken - was just explaining myself very badly........ I guess it's cos I'm so used to being the one in a wheelchair who can't find a stupid parking place because of people who don't need them (as in NON DISABLED) stealing them!

LOL!!!! it is hard to communicate over the net sometimes - because there are no behavioural cues to what the other person means!!!

LOL!!

No offence taken at all!!!!

Rosie xxxx

Hey Frogga,

I think everyone's in basic agreement with you.

Any action that negatively affects disabled people is reprehensible and should be curbed, from falsely claiming disability allowances (makes it harder for the genuinely disabled to claim basic life maintenance) to nicking parking spaces (makes it harder for the genuinely disabled to operate in life) .

Firstly, let me say that I view grocery shopping as a heavy-duty occupation, disabled or not. I hate it and the fact that dragging those heavy bags is bad for my arms, neck and back. Hate having heavy stuff hanging off my arms, hate carrying heavy things. But if you live on your own you gotta do it. I don't drive in HK, though, take the buses instead. Even worse, but it does limit the amount I can transport!

Frogga, I'm a Brit, as you know, and although I haven't lived there for a couple of decades I remember it was almost a national sport in the UK. You'd see these people hauling great trolley-loads of goods out of the store to their disabled parking spot then hefting 14 heavy bags worth out of the trolley and into the car, not a light-weight task, even in peak condition. Disabled? My eye!

I don't know if Britain is worse than other countries, I think it's natural to try to cheat the system somewhat...I imagine if you accosted the culprits they'd say "Oh! Sorry! No one was using the parking space, so....??"

Of course, this was in ye olden days, it was kind of in the national psyche to try to get away with cheating the traffic cops and meter maids...but we were all very uninformed about disability then - you only ever took it seriously if you were disabled yourself or ancient.

But undoubtedly people see it as "cheating the system" rather than "cheating the disabled" - which is really what it is.

I think people are still very much *not* attuned to disability in any form. I'll never forget the first time I had a bad injury, I was about 21 in the UK, burnt my left arm by dropping a stew (= pot roast) directly from the oven onto my arm, very bad burn. Walking around the streets later, arm in bandages and sling, arm ultrasensitive and horribly painful, I was horrified at just how little other people respect signs of infirmity. They bang into you, let doors slam in your face, barge you through doors, you name it. When I broke my arm recently in HK, same thing. No one in the street can walk in a straight line, it's almost like "oh a sling, let's head for that..."

And in both cases I wore a sling, a wopping great signpost saying "injured!!".

You can bet your bottom dollar that if any of these cheaters had to cope with life with a disability, visible or otherwise, they would be the first to line offenders up against the wall. But, as with everything, until it directly affects YOU, you don't understand. Sadly, that's just how human beings are.

Just my $0.2 worth! all the best!

Hey artist

I swear the UK is the worst for it... it's improving but not much!! but I was on the wrong side of it the other day - was sitting in my friends car and this lady came up to her and was like "you can walk fine why do you have a disabled badge? you're both young"...

I hate "cheating" the system take Thursday - social worker visited me to fill in some forms - and she is trying to exagerate things so that I can continue to get 24 hr care funded (I sort of imagine that as I have almost no movement, can't transfer, can't feed myself, can't go to the bathroom on my own, need night turns, etc or do anything without help I kind of need it... but they are trying to remove funding.. grrr )

oh well!!!

have you thought of a "cool" oap shopping thing on wheels? the scurge of modern UK.

How come you now live in HK?

People are so rude - they dont open doors, they stand there and stare whilst you struggle to get through them (which is why I have broken 3 at uni so far..) or they just totally blank you (if you're a wheelchair user)...`

LOL oh well... the joys of living in the UK - I suppose we are just lucky to have a good NHS (well... sorta good) and social services support or I'd be so stuffed!!

hope you are doing ok

Rosie xxxx

Nah, Frogga, those trolley things are too rigid - it's still easier for me to handle flexible shopping bags; and I try to shop on my way in and out of town for work - I live on an island in a small village, ice cream and noodle shops only! I live here cause I like it, btw - but when the time comes I surely will get one of those things, cool or not :D

all the best.

Ooops, forgot the point of my last post (neurontin moment there :) ) - doesn't sound like you're cheating the system, sounds like you are in *exactly* the situation the system was set-up to help. Don't make the mistake of feeling guilty about it on top of everything else...

Remember, in a case like yours - you sound absolutely, undeniably disabled - it's not about honesty/dishonesty, it's about **presentation** - I hope the social worker is good at that, because it's all in the spin :p

I have no problem at all with people trying to establish as sound a financial base for themselves as they possibly can, u go for it, girl!

good luck with it, all the best!

LOL noodles and icecream........sounds good..

you need a hunky guy to carry all the shopping home for you..

LOL I think social worker is good - she thought of all this stuff I can't do - open curtains, open doors, turn lights on, turn radio/ CD player on/ pick stuff up/ hand over money/ sign cheques/ use a phone/ put scarf-hat-gloves etc on when I'm going outside/ turning the pages in textbooks/ grip anything.... move around by myself, even silly things like opening the post...
whereas I would just have said "can't uise arms or legs!"..

where did you used to live in the UK?

Rosie xxxx

Hey Frogga, I'm going to send you a PM sometime soon re other stuff...and yes, must put "one hunky guy" on my next shopping list, good thinking..

Your social worker sounds excellent - once you start looking at it like that (and you must, of course) it really starts to tell a story...how they can imagine that anyone would fake such things, and at your age too, just for their small measley cheque is beyond me!
atb :)