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Feb
5
2009
Calculators, Case Law, Downloads, Free, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Whats the WCAB doing NOW???
What's the WCAB doing NOW???

UPDATE 9/3/2009:  Download the new en banc Ogilvie II and Almaraz/Guzman II decisions here!

Need a FREE sample Ogilvie analysis brief complete with citations?

Some crazy stuff has happened in the last two days.  1 Two big en banc decisions were just handed down from the WCAB. Here they are, hot off the presses and ready for downloading:

Of the two cases, I enjoyed Ogilvie v. City and County of San Francisco much more.  This case describes to what extent the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule may be rebutted2 and how one might go about doing this.

Pages 22 through 32 are basically nothing but math. 3  These pages detail the information and methodology necessary to rebut the DFEC portion of the 2005 Schedule.

Last night I wrote a prototype calculator which will allow you to determine whether you may or may not be able to rebut the DFEC portion of the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule.  This calculator would only perform the DFEC rebuttal calculations suggested in the majority opinion, since this is now the law of the land.  My plan is to test it this weekend and launch it Monday.

However, if anyone is interested in helping me test it, I would appreciate the help.  Just drop me a line and I’ll give you the link as soon as its ready.

In the meantime, if you want to crunch the numbers yourself (or follow along with the WCAB in Ogilvie), you will probably find Table A and Table B page 1-7 of the 2005 PDRS to be very helpful.

FYI, there are a lot of “footnotes” in Ogilvie that reference various online documents or websites.  I’ve downloaded a copy or provided a screenshot of each of these pages for your reference:

  1. Photo courtesy of Kyle Kesselring [↩]
  2. Basically just the DFEC portion. [↩]
  3. Yay! [↩]
Dec
2
2008
Downloads, EAMS, PDRater, Workers Compensation Resources

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Block Letters
Block Letters

According to a recent DIR news bulletin on November 17, 2008 the new WCAB Rules of Practice and Procedure were approved by the Office of Administrative Law and filed with the Secretary of the State and (apparently) made effective that same day.  If you haven’t already reviewed the new regulations, now’s a good time.  You can check them using the above links or download it here:

New WCAB Rules of Practice and Procedure (Effective 11-17-2008)

Since the new WCAB rules became effective, the new EAMS forms are now mandatory.  The exceptions named in the above bulletin are:

  • There will be a four-week “transition period” in effect through December 12, 2008 during which the “legacy”1 forms will still be accepted.
  • Forms requiring multiple signatures will be accepted in “legacy” form as long as the filer establishes that circulation began prior to November 17, 2008. 2
  • Unrepresented injured workers will be allowed until February 17, 2009 to use “legacy” forms.
  • Unrepresented injured workers who do not have access to a computer or typewriter will be allowed to fill in the new OCR forms by printing using block letters.34

Did you know there’s a handbook for the new Optical Character Recognition EAMS forms?  You can check it out here or download it here:

EAMS OCR Handbook (Rev. 11-24-2008)

  1. Read: non-EAMS [↩]
  2. I suppose the easiest way to demonstrate this is to point out that at least one of the signatures was dated prior to 11/17/2008. [↩]
  3. Though, I suppose printing clearly in all-capital letters migh work better… [↩]
  4. Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk. [↩]
Oct
23
2008
1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, Calculators, CSS, Downloads, Free, PDRater, Permanent Partial Disability, Subscription Features, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources

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Running Puppy
This puppy has nothing to do with this post whatsoever.

Last Friday I announced some “website tweaks.”  Since then a paid subscriber1 reiterated a feature request.2 As a paid subscriber, he is able to calculate an unlimited number of ratings so that they all show up on a single page.  Basically, he wanted to be able to see the dollar value for a particular permanent partial disability percentage at the same time as a rating.

This isn’t the first time I’ve wrestled with the problems in creating such a feature.  There are several problems with incorporating this feature into the calculator’s page.

  1. The rating calculator and the dollar value of permanent disability calculators cannot be open at the same time.
  2. The rating calculator does not require the date of injury, just the age of the injured worker.  Without the date of injury, the website cannot properly display the dollar value of a permanent partial disability percentage.
  3. When a paid subscriber has performed more than one rating calculation on a page, the website cannot decide which rating string to convert into the equivalent number of dollars.

This exact feature had been suggested by other users in the past.3  My original thinking was that trying to accommodate this feature request would involve too many unknown variables.  After giving the matter some more thought, here’s what I’ve come up with:

  • Paid subscribers benefit from improved print formatting. Basically, I’ve created a special file that changes the way the calculator page looks when a paid subscriber is printing. 4  Paid subscribers benefit from having the calculator page streamlined specifically for printing.
  • Paid subscribers can have more than one calculator open at a time. This one feature probably addresses 90% of this user’s concerns.  If you’re able to keep both calculators open at the same time, it should be easy to perform a rating and then turn the percentage into a dollar value.
  • Paid subscribers receive automatic calculations of dollar value of ratings. When a paid subscriber performs a rating calculation, the “Dollar Value of Permanent Disability” calculator automatically opens and the dollar value of the rating is automatically calculated.  The user will still have to adjust calculation to account for the year of the injury.  However, this is probably the most elegant solution to this issue.
  1. As opposed to a free subscriber [↩]
  2. Thanks Marc! [↩]
  3. And even some competitors!!! [↩]
  4. The special file is actually just some CSS to optimize page for printing. [↩]
Sep
5
2008
1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, Author, Business, Calculators, Combined Values Chart, Downloads, Free, Links, Multiple Disabilities Table, PDRater, Workers Compensation Resources

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I am constantly trying to think of ways in which to improve this website and to make it a better resource for California Workers’ Compensation professionals.  If you’ve got an idea as to how I can improve this site, drop me a line and let me know.

  1. Links to online Medical Provider Network lists of physicians for a lot of different carriers
    • Click on “Medical Provider Network Links”
  2. The ability to search for occupational codes by the occupational title or to search for an occupational title by occupational code
    • Click on “Rating Calculator” and then “Occupation”
  3. Links to free searchable versions of the California Labor Code and California Code of Regulations
    • Click on “Workers’ Compensation Resource Links”
  4. Links to the State of California search pages for medical doctors, chiropractors, osteopaths, podiatrists, accupuncturists, optomotrists, psychologists, and dentists
    • Click on “Physician Search Links”
  5. Downloads for numerous Permanent Disability Rating Schedules – 1988, 1997, 2005, and the draft for 2009
  6. Combined Values Chart / Multiple Disabilities Table calculators
    • Click on “Rating Calculator” and then “CVC” or “MDT”
  7. A list of Commonly Used Terms in California Workers’ Compensation law

What’s that?  I only promised the top five PDRater.com features?  Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of the first rule of business:  Under promise and over deliver.

Happy Friday!

Aug
26
2008
Articles, Author, Downloads, EAMS, Free, PDRater, Technobabble, Workers Compensation Resources

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I received a few handouts regarding the new EAMS system while at the San Francisco WCAB yesterday. The WCAB SFO only had a limited number of these documents, so I’ve scanned my copy for everyone else’s benefit.

I also learned some interesting things about EAMS:

  1. Everyone knows that EAMS and the WCAB will reject your filings if you’re not registered with EAMS. Did you know that the Judges aren’t sure if EAMS will reject your filings if the employer is not registered?
  2. If a party brings physical paper exhibits, Judges will only be accepting the most important documents for filing (since the WCAB will be doing the scanning)
    • The parties will be expected to bring any possibly relevant exhibits. Any documents not accepted will be returned to the parties or shredded.
    • Judges will mainly be accepting just permanent and stationary reports.
  3. A party bringing a CD burned with scanned exhibits, will need to submit all medical files and documents which are typically required to be filed with the WCAB.
    • They will will not have the option of only submitting the most relevant exhibits.
  4. For the time being, normal walk through procedures are gone. Any new case activation would not be assigned a Board number until approximately 3 am after the day of submission. Be ready to drop off your walk throughs the day before you want to obtain approval.
  5. The EAMS forms haven’t been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and won’t be mandatory until approved.
  6. For the time being, every Board will have a telephone conference each morning starting at 8 am with their “command center.”
  7. The decision to go ahead with EAMS starting August 25, 2008 was only made on August 22, 2008!
Aug
7
2008
Articles, Author, Downloads, EAMS, Free, Links, PDRater, Technobabble

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WorkersCompensationInfo.com posted a great update on the proposed EAMS regulations. The Board website shows the new proposed regulations and forms. The comment period closes on August 21, 2008. You can download all of the EAMS Proposed Regulations at once here.

There are new forms for:

  • Compromise and Releases
  • Stipulations with Request for Award
  • Minutes of Hearing
  • Declaration of Readiness to Proceed
  • Disability Evaluation Unit (DEU) forms and regulations
  • Retraining and Return to Work (RRTW) forms and regulations

Those wishing to comment can send their thoughts as follows:

There’s a physical mail address as well – but with EAMS around the corner, shouldn’t you get used to e-mail?

Aug
5
2008
Downloads, Javascript, PDRater, Technobabble

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I recently gave a brief overview of my permanent disability and workers’ compensation benefit calculators. In that post I wrote a little bit about how my website calculators work.

In late 2004 I spent some of my free time working on a calculator for the 1997 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule 100% pure javascript (the only programming language I knew at the time). I had several reasons for never publicly releasing this calculator:

  • Uniformity. Not all computers and browsers perform all javascript functions the same way.
  • Speed. A pure javascript calculator would require the user to download all of the code – not just the parts they needed.
  • Protection. Anyone with a modicum of technical knowledge could simply downloaded the calculators, and then post it as their own.
  • Obsolete. With SB 899 and the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule, my calculator became nearly obsolete. I scrapped it rather than building a second calculator.

The current workers’ compensation benefits calculators use very very little javascript. Doing so has meant that I don’t have to worry about different computers/browsers, users only need to download the code they need to run a single calculation, and my calculators don’t work without my server.

Next up, PHP!

Jul
11
2008
Downloads, Links, PDRater, Website Updates

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More updates!

Now there are two links to the CCR’s. Its easier to search by code section through the DIR website, BUT its easier to search for a particular phrase through the Westlaw link. FYI: You don’t need a Westlaw account to use this service!

Have you seen the draft proposed 2009? Download it and take a look! Setting aside the issues of whether it will result in PD increases or decreases, there are some interesting changes from the 2005 schedule. This draft propsed 2009 schedule changes how age modifies a rating and completely revamps the FEC rank system. For more information, check out the DWC Newsline.

Are you fascinated by Benefits Notice Manuals? You’re in luck! Revised April 9, 2008.

What other downloads and links are you interested in? Drop a comment below or shoot me an e-mail.