No fault won that case... Im on comp.. and they have offered me 4 different settlements .I refused them all.. I will not settle.. this beast seems to be here to stay. i will need them to cover treatments for many years to come until one sticks.. and then even if it does stick it might come back.. nope I won't settle ..especially for 14 grand when in the last year they have spent over 400 grand on medical alone.. they know the real worth .. and they are insulting my intelligence . and they will do the same to all that do not know the worth of medical they will need in the future.....

I've always wondered why the heck this is even allowed. Anyone with a serious injury taking a lump sum generally won't receive a fraction of what is really needed to cover their medical care. It seems to encourage fraud... Or shift the monetary burden to tax payers...

Don't get me wrong, WC is generally miserable to deal with, so I can understand wanting to get them out of one's life.

Attorneys also encourage their clients to settle for a lump sum so that they end up getting a % of the medical (unless of course the injured worker is in a state with max attorney fees.)

Every doc I've ever spoken with has said it's foolish to settle out medical with WC, yet most of their patients seem to make that choice. I decided early on that the only thing I could worry about was keeping my medical open, which resulted in me being without out a dime of income for a long stretch at one point--without the help of family I would have ended up homeless...

Just to add my 2 cents...when it comes to settlements it really is different in every single case. I did not want to settle and initially did not. We went to trial, won, and I had open medical. Then things got worse and I couldn't reopen the case and take advantage of open medical because work comp was appealing. So there I was, in limbo, getting worse daily, and forced to use my regular insurance because work comp would not approve anything. Bad situation made worse (in my opinion) by an awful lawyer who was in way over his head and then turned nasty on me (and yes...this is MY lawyer I am talking about). No other lawyer would touch it because we had already gone to trial.

So after a year...I finally took a settlement. Work comp was against me, MY lawyer was bullying me and being mean trying to FORCE me to take a settlement, no one else would touch the case, I was getting no income, and had to pay for all my own medical. So once I was released back to work I made the decision to settle because I needed to get out from under all this stress which was only making me worse. I feel like work comp won on this one because they were able to force a situation where I felt like I had no choice but to either settle or go bankrupt, lose my job, and have to wait another 5 years before the appeals and all that were done (all while being harassed and bullied by work comp, my lawyer, and dealing with the stresses of having no money and no way to keep paying for insurance).

Did my settlement even cover a fraction of the medical I will continue to need in the future? Heck no...it didn't even cover the medical paid out of pocket last year while they were messing around. But it's OVER. I struggled with the decision for a long time...but I honestly feel like the decision I made was in my best interest long term for my physical and mental health.

If the situation had been different (different lawyer mostly) then I never would have settled. I don't regret my decision because it was the best I could make of a bad situation...but I do wish things had been different. Unfortunately the system is just so corrupt and sometimes you just have to make the best of it. But I am very proud of my decision to refuse their offer to resign my job for more money. That just plain insulted me and it is terrible that in MOST cases they get people to agree to this. They pushed that hard on me but I absolutely refused.

I agree with you LitLove that the fact that insurance companies can offer lump sum settlements does encourage fraud. It sucks too because the only ones who really benefit from the current system the way it's set up are the ones who are exaggerating or faking injuries because the settlements are not nearly enough to take care of those who legitimately need the money for medical costs and are too much for those who won't really have any future medical costs. So frustrating.

But I do realize that my situation is also unique because I have been able to return to work and therefore have insurance and income to help me pay my future medical bills. This is not the case for many with RSD who end up losing their jobs, friends, family, etc because of the condition.

There are situations where settling may be the best situation for someone, though, since this is not a perfect world and we are surrounded by corruption and those who are willing to hurt us for the bottom line. Sad...but true. The work comp system needs to be majorly overhauled...but I just don't know how you make it better and free from the corruption that currently causes it to be so bad. And the corruption is on both sides because I realize that as much as work comp sucks and take advantage...there are just as many employees who work the system too.

Exactly Catra!

IF there is a chance of the medical portion of WC going away, and we go to a system of insurance with no pre existing conditions being an issue, that would take care of a lot of the wastefulness.

Injured Workers are spoken of so frequently with disdain. Until someone goes through the experience themselves or a family member, they just don't understand.

A national WC system would also be a good idea IMO. Things vary so widely from state to state.

RSD is more complicated and unpredictable than many common work injuries. So, I think we're susceptible to the systems shortcomings in a way that many Injured Workers just aren't.

It's odd, but there seems to be a major shift in the culture where people have very little empathy for the disabled, or ill. Or maybe I'm just getting cynical as I get older?

End rant...

I am saddened by the truth behind all of this.. The world looks to itself instead of others, then to others first. I try to teach my children right. It is even in proper speech. that when speaking of yourself and another or a group that you come last, that others come first.
If this is how our speech was originated, then that means that we a a group are"expected" to care for each other. In all I know and feel. most people wish this is how the world will be but the truth is it gets worse as time goes on.
the more people that live the less others are thought of first. selfishness becomes the way of life. .. survival of the fittest become the law. and truth is as a species we come up short of being fit of the eden we have been given. I have heard that man had been cast from eden. I do not believe it .. we corrupt it. no matter what religion or belief you have I'm sure this can be seen as true.
we are seeing this corruption with the way the system treats US. ok I've ranted on and on and on and ..ok Ill stop. If there was a way to change this . I wish it would present itself. and then i would pray that I was smart enough to recognize it and what to do at that point. Until then we wade in this pool together with either comp, no-fault, or private insurance. we each have our obstacles to over come.. and thankfully we have each other here to help in this labyrinth . god speed every one. soft hugs to you all

Hmmmm......I will speak as someone who did industrial medical examinations for almost two decades in my state. In an effort to battle "fraud" our WC laws changed a few years back to resemble more of a "nationally" based system. The treating physician was no longer given the dubious honor of being most correct about the status of an injured worker, rather it was handed over to the State.

While all WC laws are State-regulated right now, I can clearly tell you without equivocation that the injured worker is far worse in my state now since the "change" and only the injured worker was adversly affected. The system is cheaper to run now and the premiums are less for the employers, but care is now rationed, reduced, antiquated and takes forever to authorize since control of care is over-regulated and not driven by the treating doc. You get what you pay for...

I'm in CA and was "lucky" (lol) to be injured prior to WC reform here. You might be right, as bad as it is here, some state's are even scarier. I know that many of us have to consider relocation after becoming permanently disabled, and yet it seems I might be trapped here because of all the complications that will come with WC billing from another state. I'd like to think if there was a single national system, it would garner more attention from those that might be able to effect a more fair system.

The reform a couple of years ago did only benefit the corporations. but here is the kick of it all. I have been paying into this system since I was 9. yep illegal but Ive been a tax paying citizen for that long. I never complained about it as it only gave me moore to add into ssi. but this is too much . It isn't taken into account my desire to work and feel like a contributing part of the world. only that the bottom line is satisfied. so if comp doesn't exist to make sure injured workers are cared for, or to make sure proper care is given to aid in the return to work.. whats the point.??? what is the point of it all? just to make sure others keep making money off my misfortune?? I am dis illusioned and loosing faith in it all.

I hear ya, brother. It's a racket. I was stuck in the middle for decades as a provider watching people being denied or delayed care right and left, helpless while knowing that there was something I could do to help but would not be authorized or allowed to treat in the way that I had learned and thought would work. For both SSI and WC, the problem lies in that there are closer to an infinite number of cases, diagnoses, etc. to be dealt with by a finite amount of money that is first shaved down by the "administrators and their henchmen."

Therefore, SSI, WC or any other controlled system that is throttled back can only work with rationing, delays and denials. I don't know what the answer is but it can never work when there is a centralized body that is neither the patient nor provider making the clinical decisions.

This was not in a "no fault" state. Please don't jump to conclusions. And yes, I understand the general discussion here is WC.