Nebraska Workers’ Compensation – What You Need to Know
Have questions about your workers’ compensation case? You’re not alone. Every work injury situation is different, and it’s normal to feel uncertain about your rights, your next steps, or what benefits you may be entitled to.
That’s why we offer free consultations to provide personalized guidance based on your unique situation. Call us today at (402) 464-0064 or toll-free at (800) 665‑0064 to speak with an experienced Nebraska Workers’ Compensation attorney.
In the meantime, we’ve provided helpful answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. Please note: While the information below addresses common issues, it does not replace legal advice tailored to your specific case.
There are a lot of questions to ask yourself when you hire an attorney. Some of them are pretty obvious, like how experienced are you and your firm? Here are a few that you might not have considered.
- Does this attorney regularly practice in this area of law? For example, we do not handle divorces, wills, or anything far outside of workers’ compensation and personal injury cases. We focus our practice on workers’ compensation and personal injury so that we can stay up to date with current legal decisions and know how the process works. Workers’ compensation, especially, is a unique enough area of law that you want to have an attorney who regularly practices in front of the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court.
- Is this attorney just telling me what I want to hear? If an attorney is throwing numbers at you before they have seen your medical records or you have reached maximum medical improvement, you may want to be concerned. Almost everyone wants to know at the outset what their case is worth, but it is rare that an attorney can honestly respond to that question so early on. You may want to be cautious of an attorney who tells you there will be a big payoff before they know enough about the case to be sure of that. The attorney you choose should be willing to tell you what is good about your case but also be honest with you about any weaknesses in the case and about what the true value is so that you can make informed decisions.
- How does your fee work? Most personal injury/workers’ compensation attorneys operate on a contingency basis because clients who are put in those situations rarely have the extra money to pay a large retainer fee. Ask your attorney what kinds of fees/reimbursements they may charge you in addition to the contingency fee. It is normal to be charged also for things like medical records that the attorney has to request. Some firms may charge for other things, like postage or the attorney’s mileage to your deposition. Some attorneys may make the percentage they take a fee on dependent on whether the case settles or goes to trial. You want to make sure you understand how the fee setup works.
If your claim is denied, you can ask the insurance company to reconsider, or you can try the Workers’ Compensation Court’s alternative dispute resolution process. In most cases, though, you will ultimately end up with two choices: 1) accept the denial (and the fact that nothing further will be paid for by the Workers’ Compensation insurance carrier, including medical treatment); or 2) retain an attorney to file a Petition in the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court. Unless you just don’t care about getting treatment or a paycheck, you are probably going to want to select option 2. Fortunately, you don’t have to have any money up front to pay us, which can be a pretty big deal when you have a denied insurance claim and have not been able to work for some time. Call (800) 665‑0064 to talk to an attorney and discuss how to begin the process of having that decision reversed.
Contrary to what you may have been told, the nurse case manager does not have to be with you in your appointment with your doctor. If he or she insists on being in the appointment with you after you have asked for privacy, you should talk to the doctor’s office about this.
Nurse case managers have an interesting role in Worker’s Compensation cases. Although they can be helpful, do not be lulled into a false sense of security in your dealings with them. They are representatives of the insurance company.
To learn more about the role of nurse case managers in your Workers’ Compensation case and find out whether they are overstepping, please call (800) 665‑0064.
When you are taken off work by your doctor as a result of your workers’ compensation injury, or when your hours are reduced, you are entitled to receive certain pay. Generally, when you are totally off, you should receive 2/3 of your average weekly wage. This is called “temporary total disability” or TTD. You could receive temporary partial disability, or TPD, for your partial time off. Of course, how this “average weekly wage” is calculated is one of those things that seems straightforward, but it is often something that experienced lawyers still have to debate , depending on the situation, since certain weeks of the six months before you worked may be excluded from it, and since you may have received “other compensation” in addition to regular wages that may or may not be included.
If there’s any question about whether you are being paid the right amount for your time out of work for your Nebraska Workers’ Compensation injury, you can call for a free initial consultation, (800) 665‑0064.
The answer to this question is tricky. When you were first injured, you may have been asked to complete something called a “Form 50,” which allows you to designate a doctor who has treated you in the past as your primary treating physician for the Worker’s Compensation case. If you checked the box electing to have the insurance company’s doctor treat you instead, you may have to go to that person. On the other hand, if you were never told you had the right to choose your doctor, or if a surgical operation has been recommended, or if your claim is denied, you may choose the physician. On the other hand, you also may have to submit to an examination from time to time by a doctor of the insurance company’s choosing. This may be called an “independent medical exam,” but there really might be very little about it that seems independent.
These rules can be difficult to navigate, so please call if you have any question about what doctor should be treating you.
This question seems simple enough, but it is more complicated than you may think. When you do not think that the doctor who is treating you has offered treatment that is helping, it can be tough to know what to do. The insurance company may send you for a “second opinion,” of their own choice, but there are certain processes that must be followed to actually have a second medical opinion at your request paid for by the workers’ compensation carrier. To learn more, for a free consultation, call Shasteen, Morris, & Ockander, P.C., L.L.O., at (800) 665‑0064.
In the short term (before you have reached maximum medical improvement), if you can’t go back to your job, and your employer doesn’t have something for you to do within your restrictions, you should be paid temporary total disability for your time off of work. In the long term (after you have reached the point that you are no longer getting better and you have permanent work restrictions), you may be entitled to vocational rehabilitation, which is help finding a new job that you can do. To discuss more about what vocational rehabilitation is and who qualifies, please call Shasteen, Morris, & Ockander for a free consultation at (800) 665‑0064.
Your employer may be asking you to take “leave” under FMLA while you are already off work under Workers’ Compensation. This is a common situation, and FMLA is generally quite apart and separate from Workers’ Compensation — that is, just because you qualify for FMLA leave does not mean that you don’t get Workers’ Compensation benefits. If you have questions about this, please call Shasteen, Morris, & Ockander at (800) 665‑0064.
There are a million possible answers to this question. Put simply: a lot of insurance carriers will search for any possible reason to deny your claim. And sometimes your claim will be denied for no apparent reason at all. If you are getting “the runaround,” for example, having trouble getting answers from the insurance adjuster, if your TTD checks are not coming, or if you are having trouble getting recommended medical treatment authorized, it may be time to speak with an attorney at (800) 665‑0064.
Workers’ Compensation insurance companies often have adjusters who are handling dozens of cases at a time. They may just be slow to get you called back. That can be a real problem when you haven’t gotten your check or treatment you need. If benefits are more than 30 days overdue, they may owe a penalty on that. If you are frustrated and simply do not want to deal with the insurance adjuster yourself anymore, call for a consultation at (800) 665‑0064.
Simply put: Yes. The mileage reimbursement rate changes periodically, and you have to submit it to get paid.
The great thing about our small firm is that both of our attorneys are experienced at handling workers’ compensation cases. We also try to make sure that most potential new clients have a chance to speak with an actual attorney – not just a case manager or intake person — as soon as possible after calling us.
