The Illinois General Assembly recently passed new legislation amending the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act (“WC Act”) and Occupational Diseases Act (“OD Act”). 

The Department of Labor recently issued an opinion letter considering the following two questions: 1) can an employee elect to take paid leave for an FMLA-covered absence before FMLA leave is used?; and 2) is an employer permitted to provide FMLA-designated leave in excess of the 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave provided by the FMLA?

In the arena of workers’ compensation, attorneys heavily scrutinize the credentials of physicians, combing through every certification, publication or piece of education that is susceptible to attack.

So your Claimant was injured by the negligence of some third party and you are paying workers’ compensation benefits.  What can you do to protect your subrogation rights?

Over the years, we’ve been confronted with glaring headlines involving lawsuits that appear ridiculous. At times however, the plaintiffs may produce sufficient evidence to support their claims, as in the McDonald’s third degree burns from hot coffee litigation.

It’s no secret there is an opioid crisis in this country. Millions of Americans – including injured workers - are prescribed opiate pain medications. Seen as an effective substitute for such drugs, many individual states have legalized the use of medical marijuana.

Since 2011, Section 8.2(d) of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act has held that undisputed bills must be paid within 30 days of receipt of a complete bill. 

Like middle children, Reinstatement Motions don’t get enough attention. The general consensus is that Reinstatement Motions almost always get granted, and any fight is an exercise in futility. Cases are routinely reinstated without objection, and often get granted without a formal record.

Welcome to the Winter 2019 edition of the Medicare Secondary Payer Compliance Corner.

Question:  We recently learned that an injured worker is using an American citizen’s Social Security number, and that American citizen is a Medicare beneficiary.  The worker using that Social Security number is technically undocumented, however, and is 64 years old.  What do I need to do in my settlement to remain in compliance with the Medicare Secondary Payer Act?