25 October

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Estate Planning for the Long Term Disability Claimant

At The Law Offices of Nancy L. Cavey, we urge our clients who are disabled because of their chronic condition to consider consulting with an estate planning attorney. Why? If you, for example have a chronic illness such as MS, Parkinson’s or even Alzheimer’s, you must have a plan and legal protections in place to protect you. This can include: 1. Designating someone you trust to handle financial matters, if you are unable to manage your own affairs. 2. Selecting someone you trust to make healthcare decisions for you. 3. Communicating your health care wishes via a living will. 4. Have a will. 5. Creating...

25 October

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Cognitive Problems and Your MS Disability Claim

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Cognitive problems can be devastating and impact your ability to function in the workplace. Unfortunately, many disability carriers don’t appreciate the cognitive problems that can be caused by MS. It’s vital that all of your symptoms of MS, including cognitive problems be fully explained in your medical records and documented in your activity of daily living forms you are requested to complete by the disability insurance company. Nancy Cavey, MS disability attorney, has written a free information guide on “23 Mistakes You Can Make When Preparing for Your Long Term Disability Statement and Field Visit.” If you are having cognitive problems,...

25 October

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Disability Claims and the Side Effects of Medication

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It is not uncommon for disability insurance companies to cherry pick medical records and pick out on the medical records those things which they believe supports a delay or disability claims denial. At The Law Offices of Nancy L. Cavey, your Florida disability attorneys, we think it’s important that your medical records document any side effects that you are having with medication and their impact on your functioning. If, for example, you are a surgeon and you are having side effects from a cardiac medication you are taking for your cardiac disease, the side effects of the medication alone can limit...

25 October

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Court Rejects Reduction of Florida First Responder’s Wage Loss Benefits By Receipt of Pension

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If a first responder has a permanent impairment rating of at least 20% after having reached maximum medical improvement, the first responder might be entitled to Florida workers compensation supplemental wage loss benefits. These are very valuable money benefits and, depending on your average weekly wage and compensation rate, could be in excess of $100,000. The City of Miami Beach attempted to reduce those benefits by the receipt of a pension in the case of Wilder v. City of Miami Beach, 33 FLW D2436 (October 24, 2008) The First District Court of Appeal said “No!” F.S. 440.15(3)(b)1 says that a Florida first...

25 October

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Is Your Long Term Disability Carrier Threatening to Cut Off Your Benefits If You Don’t Apply for Social Security Disability?

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A long term disability carrier will normally provide you with a “legal representative” that they hire. Did you know that the representative might not be an attorney; they might be a part of a nationwide company? The long term disability company is going to entice you to use their representative, with the suggestion that this is a “free benefit” of your long term disability benefit. Your long term disability insurance company isn’t telling you the truth. Are you surprised? You probably don’t realize that there is a clause in the long term disability policy that says if you are approved for...

25 October

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Blockbuster Decision by the Florida Supreme Court on Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Fees

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The Florida Supreme Court entered a blockbuster decision on October 23, 2008 on the Florida workers’ compensation attorney’s fees provisions of the 2003 Florida workers’ compensation statute in Emma Murray v. Mariner Health, 33 Fla. L. Weekly S845. Click to read the decision. The decision is important to all Florida first responders! The Florida legislature amended the attorney fee provisions of 440.34 five years ago and tried to limit the payment of the workers’ compensation attorneys. Florida workers compensation attorneys, like Nancy Cavey, were paid attorneys fees if they successfully obtained workers’ compensation benefits at the expense of the Florida workers’...

25 October

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How MUCH Time Does A Florida First Responder NEED to Miss to Be Disabled For Presumption Purposes?

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Just because you are covered by the Florida Heart and Lung Act, does not mean you get benefits. You have to be disabled! OK, but HOW long do you have to be out to meet the disability standard? In an awful decision in Bivens v. City of Lakeland, 33 Fla.L. Weekly D2342b (October 2, 2008), the First District noted that “disability occurs only when the employee becomes actually incapacitated, partially or totally, from performing his employment.” A finding of “disability hinges solely on the employee’s ability to earn incomes, not upon other factors such as whether the employee has experienced a...

25 October

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Essential Hypertension is NOT Covered by the Heart and Lung Presumption

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In an awful decision, Bivens v. City of Lakeland, 33 Fla. L. Weekly D2342b (October 2, 2008), firefighter Bivens claimed workers’ compensation benefits arguing that his hypertension was a covered condition under the statutory provisions of section 112.18(1). The First District ruled that essential hypertension was not a form of hypertension covered by Section 112.18(1). Only “hypertensive conditions that are arterial or cardiovascular hypertension” are covered by the Heart and Lung Presumption. In future posts I will explain the difference between essential, arterial or cardiovascular hypertension. The new line of defense to First Responder workers compensation claims will be to deny claims on...

25 October

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Cardiac Case Law – Do I Have to Be Disabled to Benefit from the Presumption?

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The First District Court of Appeal has held in two cases that you must be disabled for the presumption to apply. In Sheaffer v. City of Kissimmee, 942 So2d. 887 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) and in Miller v. City of Del Ray Beach Police Department, 31 FLW D465 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) record ruled that a presumption was not applicable since the first Responder was not disabled. As of October 1, 2003, section 440.151(3) defined “disability” as “the incapacity because of injury to are in the same or any other employment the wages which the employee was receiving at the time of...

25 October

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Cardiac Case Law – Retroactive Application of Presumption

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The First District Award of Appeal entered a great decision in Seminole County Sheriffs Office v. Johnson, 901 So2d. 342 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005). This case stands the proposition that the 2002 amendments to 112.18(1) which expanded the class of people entitled to the statutory presumption to include firefighters, law enforcement and correctional officers as statutorily defined applies retroactively without regard to the date of accident and injury. This means that the change was procedural and not substantive. As a result, the change in the statute applies to officer Johnson....

Author: Nancy Cavey