| Adult Consultative Examination Reports |
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| When an adult Social Security Disability Insurance claimant fails to provide, or provides inadequate, medical information to make a "disability" determination, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will request that a consultative examination (CE) be performed. The claimant's treating physician or an independent medical source may perform the CE. When the CE has been completed, a report must be provided to the SSA that meets the minimum requirements specified by the SSA. More... |
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| Employee Susceptibility to Occupational Disease |
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| Every employee brings his own idiosyncrasies to his employment. This includes pre-existing weaknesses, hypersensitivities, and other susceptibilities that could impact the employee's health. The minority rule in workers' compensation coverage is that there is no recovery for an occupational disease where a pre-existing condition, such as asthma, contributed to the resulting disease. The minority states consider the disease to be the result of the employee's own innate susceptibility rather than to the peculiar conditions of his employment. More... |
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| Black Lung Benefits Act - Defining "Totally Disabled Due to Pneumoconiosis" |
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| The Black Lung Benefits Act does not provide benefits for a partial disability. Rather, in order to recover under the Act, a miner must be totally disabled as a result of pneumoconiosis. The miner bears the burden of proof to demonstrate that he is "totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis," although this responsibility is somewhat tempered by certain presumptions. More... |
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| Impairment Meets or Equals Listing of Impairments for Social Security Disability Evaluation |
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| In the sequential evaluation of disability by the Social Security Administration (SSA), a major step is whether the individual has a condition that meets the twelve-month duration requirement and that is represented on the Social Security Administration's Listing of Impairments (LOI) or equal to a listed impairment. The LOI is divided into two parts. One part applies to individuals over age eighteen and one part is applicable to individuals under eighteen. More... |
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| Waiver of Limitations Period for Notice of Injury and Claim |
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| As a general rule, if an injured employee fails to either provide timely notice of his injury or file a timely claim for workers' compensation, he will be denied benefits. However, in some instances, the employer or its insurance carrier may waive the limitations periods. For example, if an employer has actual knowledge of the employee's accident and resulting injury, the employer may be said to have waived formal notice of the injury. Likewise, if the employer voluntarily makes compensation payments to the employer, he may be deemed to have waived the requirement that the employee file a claim. More... |
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