In 2004, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation created the medical-only Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP). This addressed a long-standing practice in the insurance industry of using a Notice of Denial (NCD) to accept a claim solely for medical benefits. For years, we have questioned the procedure an injured worker…
From time to time in a Pennsylvania workers’ compensation case, the entity who is actually the “employer” for workers’ comp purposes is not clear. This is frequently due to the direct employer lacking PA workers’ compensation insurance coverage (which is against the law). When we face such a situation, often…
An injured worker in Pennsylvania generally has three years after the date of the injury to file a Claim Petition to seek workers’ compensation benefits for the injury. On the other hand, once an injury is accepted by the issuance of a Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP), and then wage…
We have discussed Impairment Rating Evaluations (IRE) many times on this blog. Indeed, IREs are so prevalent in the Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation system, we even have a page devoted to the IRE process on our website. However, a decision by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania may change IREs in PA…
Injuries which occur within the State of Pennsylvania fall under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act [Act] (unless the employee is excluded for another reason, such as being a Federal or Military employee). However, injuries which take place outside PA may still be covered under the Act if…
If you have not visited our website recently, you may be surprised at some of the changes you will see by checking us out at www.bnlegal.com. The first thing you may notice is that the site has been redesigned to be more friendly to devices other than computers. Now the…
We have discussed the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund (UEGF) on this blog before. This is the Fund that was created in 2007 to provide benefits to injured workers when an employer fails to carry Pennsylvania workers’ compensation insurance (in direct violation of PA law). Though the UEGF has now been…
Unless you have been living under a rock, you are aware the Pope will be visiting Philadelphia late this September. With the throngs of people flooding Philadelphia for the festivities, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation realized that some adjustments to their scheduling will have to take place. As such,…
One of the basic concepts of a workers’ compensation case in Pennsylvania, is that the injured worker actually be an employee. A person truly working as an “independent contractor” is not covered by the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (Act). How someone becomes an “independent contractor,” at least for PA workers’…
Since coming into the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) in the 1996 amendments, the Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) is here to stay. This is an important tool available to the workers’ comp insurance carriers in PA, and can be used to contain exposure on a file. An entire page devoted…