STATE
DISABILITY
BENEFITS
.OTHER WAYS TO GET MONEY WHILE YOUR CASE IS PENDING

An alternative means of obtaining money when you are not receiving any workers' compensation benefits may be through State Disability Benefits. However, you cannot collect both State Disability and workers' compensation temporary disability benefits at the same time. Most people are entitled to some State Disability Benefits. The amount is determined by the amount the employee has paid into the State Disability Fund in the year prior to making a claim.

You should go to the nearest office of Employment Development Department or E.D.D. (Unemployment Office) and obtain a form for State Disability Benefits. Sometimes our doctors have these forms in their office, so ask them. When completing the State Disability form, you must make sure that the following text is on the form, or if there is no room, please use a separate sheet attached to the form and add the following text:

I have retained representation for my workers' compensation claim
through the following law office:

THE LAW OFFICES OF GOODCHILD & DUFFY
16133 VENTURA BLVD., SUITE 1250
ENCINO, CA 91436
(818) 380-1600

The workers' compensation insurance carrier is refusing to pay benefits. If you need confirmation, please contact my attorney.

This form should then be taken to one of the doctors to which our office has referred you to. Ask the doctor to complete his part of the form to E.D.D. or you can hand-carry the form to the nearest E.D.D. office. If you have money in your fund, you will very likely receive State Disability Benefits.

If you receive State Disability Benefits while your case is in dispute, the State will file a lien against your workers' compensation case requesting reimbursement. If it is subsequently determined that you have been temporarily disabled while you were receiving State Disability, the workers' compensation defendant will have to reimburse the State. If your case settles, we will try to have the defendant agree to negotiate and pay the lien of E.D.D. for the State Disability benefits over and above the proceeds of your settlement.
....WHO WILL PAY THE MEDICAL BILLS?

If the workers' compensation insurance company is disputing your claim, or if it is disputing the medical treatment you are receiving as reasonable and necessary to treat the effects of your industrial injury, you will have to turn to an alternative means of paying medical bills until your workers' compensation case is resolved. Usually, the doctor to whom we refer you will provide medical treatment on a lien basis, with the expectation that they will be reimbursed out of the proceeds of your case when it is settled. However, you should provide any group insurance information to these or any other doctors with whom you are receiving treatment from.

If the workers' compensation carrier is denying payment of your medical bills, your group insurance carrier may pay those bills and file a lien against your workers' compensation case for reimbursement by the defendant. If they do not, you should inform Goodchild & Duffy immediately by sending the original bill to our office, with a note saying your group insurance carrier is refusing to pay, since you may have other rights such as a claim for bad faith.

Quite often by the time you are seen in this office, you have had treatment with other doctors who have billed your group insurance carrier. It is extremely important that you provide us with any paperwork, bill, etc., that you might have which indicates which entity took financial responsibility for the medical treatment for your work-related injury (other than the workers' compensation insurance carrier for your employer) at the time of the injury.

In most cases, the leverage created by having large medical bills paid by another insurance company becomes an effective bargaining tool when negotiating the settlement of your workers' compensation claim.
....OTHER INSURANCE POLICIES

If you are unable to work, you should review all insurance policies, provisions and contracts that you have. It is extremely important that you apply immediately for whatever benefits you may be entitled to. Different types of insurance policies may be applicable to you.

For example: If you have a disability income policy, you may be entitled to benefits under that policy. If you have a disability clause in a mortgage or in a car payment contract, or any other installment loan contract, that too should be applied for immediately. If your injuries were sustained in an automobile accident, there may be medical payment coverage through your own automobile insurance contract.

If you apply for any of these benefits and are denied, you must inform us immediately by sending a copy of the denial to our office. We are extremely concerned about your rights under those contracts. Goodchild & Duffy stands ready to refer you to legal counsel who may be willing to represent you in obtaining these payments, should representation become necessary.

We hope this information will be helpful to you.

Please contact us for a free consultation:

LAW OFFICES OF GOODCHILD & DUFFY
16133 VENTURA BLVD., #1250
ENCINO, CA 91436
(818) 380-1600
(323) 873-1161
(800) 468-0864