Per North Carolina Rule 903(a) “A self-insured employer, carrier, or third-party administrator may require the employee who has filed a claim and is receiving wage loss benefits under N.C.G.S. § 97-29 or N.C.G.S. § 97-30 to complete a Form 90 Report of Earnings when reasonably necessary but not more than once every six months.” The best […]
Option 1:In North Carolina, unlike many other states, pre-hearing depositions are not automatically allowed under the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act. If you want to take a pre-hearing deposition, you need either (1) the consent of the opposing party, or (2) an order from the Commission allowing you to take the deposition. See N.C. Gen. […]
Under the North Carolina Industrial Commission Rules, Nurse Case Managers are considered rehabilitation professionals as they manage medical cases and coordinate rehabilitation services. 11 NCAC 23C .0103(1). In performing their duties, Nurse Case Managers must be neutral, providing “unbiased, objective opinions.” 11 NCAC 23C .0106(d). Further, Nurse Case Managers shall “provide copies of all correspondence […]
In several recent articles, we discussed the potential impact of AB5 (now referred to as California Labor Code § 2775). The law went into effect on January 1, 2020, addressing the classification of workers as employees or independent contractors. Several lawsuits were filed challenging AB5. In one the California Trucking Association filed a lawsuit contending […]
November 4, 2021. Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP received several top rankings in the U.S. News – Best Lawyers® 2022 “Best Law Firms” report. The firm received Tier 1 regional rankings, the highest category awarded, in eight categories. The full firm report is as follows: Metropolitan Tier 1 Charlotte: Insurance Law Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an updated Section 111 NGHP User Guide – Version 6.4, on June 11, 2021. CMS will now allow the termination of ORM if the following criteria are met. Where there is no practical likelihood of associated future medical treatment, which is reflected by meeting ALL of the following: […]
Before June 24, 2011, injured employees were eligible for lifetime Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits for the duration of their disability. In 2011, the North Carolina legislature passed revisions to the Workers’ Compensation Act. One of the revisions altered N.C. Gen. Stat. § 97-29(b), which now states: The employee shall not be entitled to compensation […]
The North Carolina Industrial Commission today, Monday, March 1, 2021, sent out the following notice: “Effective March 1, 2021, all carriers, third-party administrators, and self-insured employers are required to provide the Commission with an email address for receipt of claim-related documents. The designated email address shall be provided to the Commission at contactinfo@ic.nc.gov. The email […]
In our last article, we discussed the status and potential impact of AB5, a law recently passed in California which went into effect on January 1, 2020, addressing the classification of certain workers. By way of review, prior to AB5’s passage, the decision on whether a worker should be classified as an employee or an […]
The SMART Act requires CMS to annually review the costs associated with the collection of Medicare conditional payments and set forth a threshold amount applicable to settlements, judgments, awards, or other payments (TPOC amount) for which it will not seek recovery. The threshold amount for 2020 was $750.00. On November 25, 2020, CMS announced the […]
