The Minnesota government shutdown has left injured workers with no legal recourse to obtain desperately needed workers’ compensation benefits.  Without any conferences or hearings at the Department of Labor and Industry or the Office of Administrative Hearings, injured workers’ are unable to obtain benefits when they have been denied by the workers’ compensation insurer.  This is a complete violation of injured workers’ rights under the law.

It is important to let your representatives know that your rights are being violated and we want an end to the government shutdown.

1. Find your Representatives

 To find your legislators contact information click on the link below: http://www.gis.leg.mn/OpenLayers/districts/

To contact Governor Dayton: http://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/

2. Contact Method

• Email
• Mail
• Phone

Mail/Email:

 When mailing/ emailing keep in the mind the following to include in your letter:

• Simple and Clear Message – You, the injured worker, has constitutional rights were are being violated which is causing significant harm to you and your family.
• Provide a rationale for why the legislature should be concerned – i.e.  hardships, cancelled hearing/conference, loss of medical treatment, loss of income, loss of job due to end of FMLA, worsening of condition, etc.
• What should be done about it – Ending the government shutdown so you can exercise your right to entitlement to workers’ compensation benefits through the Department of Labor and Industry and Office of Administrative Hearings as governed by law.
• Personal, compelling and persuasive. Elected officials respond to pressure from voters. Make sure to humanize the issue in your own words.

 Emailing Tips

• Include your name, address and phone number.
• Include Zip Code at the beginning of the Subject Line
• Include in the Subject Line the “MN Government Shutdown”
• Personalize your message to the legislators. 
• Do not send the same E-mail to all legislators, put a specific message to your representative or senator.
• Keep it short and simple. If it is long message, letter would be better.
• Individualized postal letters have more perceived influence on undecided Congressional members than either individualized e-mails or faxes.

Sample Letter/Email

Honorable (Full Name)
Minnesota House of Representatives
Room # State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155-1298

or

Honorable (Full Name)
Minnesota Senate
Room # Capitol Building
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155-1606

Subject: MN Government Shutdown – Zip #

 Dear Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. (Surname)/Governor Dayton):

I am a voter in your district,  living at : (your address).  I suffered a work related injury on (date of injury) with my employer.  I am asking that a budget compromise be reached quickly as at the present time I have no legal recourse under Minnesota law to obtain my workers’ compensation benefits.  The Department of Labor and Industry and Office of Administrative Hearings, which hears workers’ compensation disputes, are closed as part of the government shutdown.  We need an end to the government shutdown.

[Personal your individual letter/email]

As a Minnesota resident, I am entitled to a legal remedy to obtain workers’ compensation benefits including wage loss and medical benefits.  With the government shutdown my legal rights have been violated.  The government shutdown must end.   

Sincerely,

Phone:

Hello, My name is (your name). I am a voter in (legislator names district #). 

Bullet points

• Tell your story
• Affects the injury has had on your life, family, work, etc
• How the shutdown has affected you.
• What needs to be done.

The government shutdown needs to end. Voice your concerns and complaints to your elected officials.  

Others places to voice your concerns:

• http://www.takeactionminnesota.org/

On Tuesday, the Chief Administrative Law Judge Raymond Krause went before the retired state Supreme Court Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz, who was appointed special master to hear complaints about the government shutdown, to ask for a reopening of OAH for limited services. 

Highlights of some of the items  requested includes:

• 41 employees, consisting of the senior management critical services operational team, compensation judges and one administrative law judge be deemed critical, as well as legal support/administrative staff positions, effective July 18, 2011;
• 14 legal and administrative staff required to process and manage filings, contact parties, scheduling and service of the judges’ orders and communications as needed. Other administrative duties would include all operational needs in terms of payroll. security, human resources, mail and general office management and supervision
• To grant discretionary authority to the Chief Administrative Law Judge to determine which additional OAH positions would be critical to its operations. These positions so identified would not be returned to work prior to August 1,2011.

If history is any indication, we should be getting a decision within a week. More posts to follow.

The Petition can be found below.

Oah Petition to Special Master

On July 5, 2011 I was interviewed by the National Public Radio about the effect of the Minnesota government shutdown on claimants in the workers’ compensation system. After reflecting on that interview, I decided to summarize some of the effects.

To begin with, although the Minnesota judicial system remains open, both the Department of Labor and Industry and the Office of Administrative Hearings were deemed non-essential. As such, both were shut down. That means that until the government restarts, all pending workers’ compensation court dates are in limbo.

I have already had three hearings cancelled since July 1, 2011. In two of these cases, my clients have waited about one year for their hearing – only to find it cancelled with no indication of a reset date.

In the third case, my client has waited several months for a hearing on approval of a fusion surgery. Cancellation of his hearing means he will have to continue to put up with the pain until we can get another date. Again, nobody knows when that will occur.

Another problem is that pending settlements are essentially stuck in “no man’s land”. Under the workers’ compensation law, for a deal to be valid, it has to be approved by a workers’ compensation judge. That can’t occur with the shutdown. Thus, settlements that were in the works – but not yet finalized at the time of the shutdown – are frozen until such time as the State turns the lights back on and judges are able to approve the pending agreements.

Furthermore, with the shutdown, there is no way to make insurers pay denied claims. For example, an insurer can cut off an injured worker’s wage loss benefit by filing a Notice of Intention to Discontinue Benefits. Typically, this would lead to an objection by the injured worker, followed by the scheduling of a discontinuance conference a couple of weeks. As there are no judges, those objections cannot be processed. Hence, no discontinuance conferences.

Simply put, the Minnesota state government shutdown is not good for injured workers. Hopefully, it will not last long and the effects will not be too pervasive. If it lasts a long time, however, then it may wreak havoc on an already congested system as multiple court dates are cancelled and people are left waiting – wondering what comes next. Unfortunately, none of us know.

With the clock ticking closer to July 1st we can only expect at this point a government shutdown. Unfortunately for the injured worker this may mean a disruption in their workers compensation benefits. Without government services through the Department of Labor and Industry and Office of Administrative Hearings injured workers will not be able to have discontinuance conferences, medical conferences or hearings heard before a Compensation Judge or Mediator. Often times these types of disputes get heard on a “fast track” so the injured worker can get the benefits they desperately need. With an anticipated shutdown of OAH and DOLI from July 1st to August 31st, many injured workers will unnecessarily suffer.

The Minnesota courts, not workers’ compensation court system, will continue to operate if the government shuts down. On June 28th, Judge Bruce Christopherson ordered the Judicial Branch to remain open so that Minnesota citizens will be afforded their constitutional rights. This of course does not include workers’ compensation disputes.

The Minnesota government cannot allow a shutdown to occur for any great length of time which does not afford an injured employee the ability to have disputes heard. Without a recourse many injured employees who do not have wages coming in or are unable to receive medical treatment due to an insurance company’s denial, will have to suffer even worse hardship.

Let’s hope the legislature can get their act together soon.

With the Minnesota government facing a shutdown on July 1, 2011, the impact on the injured worker may be quite severe. Access to government benefits and to the court system will be affected for an indefinite period of time.

Under the shutdown all non-essential workers and services will be shut down. The Department of Labor and Industry, Office of Administrative Hearings and Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals have been categorized as “non-essential” and will be shut down following a government shutdown. It is not entirely clear for exacatly how long.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton’s office released the following statement:

“It is with a heavy heart that I submitted today to Ramsey County District Court my list of those state services which should be continued in the event of a July 1st shutdown and, by their omission, those many services which should not. I consider virtually all services provided by the state to be essential, and all of them have been established by previous governors and legislatures to serve and benefit people throughout Minnesota.

Attorney General Lori Swanson filed a petition with the Ramsey County District Court on June 17, 2011 asking that if Minnesota’s state government shuts down July 1, that funding continue flowing to the courts system. Although efforts have been made to keep the District Courts open, it does not appear this would include the Department of Labor and Industry Worker’ Compensation Division.

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry released on June 17, 2011 the following:

DLI operates on a biennial budget. Funds are appropriated by the Minnesota Legislature every two years, with each fiscal year beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30 of the following calendar year. Our current biennial budget is due to end after June 30, 2011. In the absence of legislation specifically appropriating funds for the continuing operations of DLI for the next biennium, we will have no or very limited authority to continue agency operations. In this event, only those limited services that are deemed to be “critical” by a court will continue

Because we do not know whether the biennial budget process will conclude in time to avoid a disruption to our operations nor do we know which, if any, services provided by DLI will continue in such an event, we must advise you that in the absence of legislatively authorized appropriations as of July 1, 2011, we anticipate that virtually all of DLI’s operations will cease.

The Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings sent out a memo also with the following:

Due to the uncertainty regarding when an appropriation or a court decision will be made, the OAH must make plans for a potential disruption in service. Beginning on Friday, June 16, 2011, OAH will send notices to all parties with matters scheduled in July and August, advising them that their matter may not proceed as currently scheduled. At this time, this step is being taken as a precautionary measure.

• If OAH’s services are not disrupted, then matters scheduled for July and August will proceed as scheduled.
• If OAH’s operations are disrupted, the length of the disruption will impact OAH’s ability to reschedule matters. OAH staff will work with affected parties to reschedule their matters as quickly as possible when normal operations resume.

In the event that services are disrupted, parties should call (651) 361-7908 to listen to recorded messages related to OAH operations. It is anticipated that this recording will be updated as new information becomes available. At this time, OAH does not anticipate that our website located at http://mn.gov/oah will be updated during a disruption in services; therefore, the most effective way to obtain updates will be by calling the telephone number listed above. Additionally, OAH fax machines will not be operational during a service disruption.

Based on the above we can expect hearings and conferences to be cancelled during that time. It is not sure when those conferences will be scheduled when the government shutdown ends.

It is my hope the budget will get resolved shortly. Let’s hope the legislature and the governor can work a budget out so the injured worker will not suffer unnecessarily.

On July 15, 2010, I recieved a very interesting email :

To Workers’ Compensation Interested Parties:

On May 17, 2010, the Department of Labor and Industry published in the “State Register” Requests for Comments about possible amendments to workers’ compensation medical and rehabilitation rules. This e-mail message is to inform you the department has decided to take no further action on these rules at this time.

 

As I wrote before, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry was proposing certain amendments to the rules governing workers’ compensation vocational rehabilitation under Minnesota Rules, parts 5220. 0100 to 5220.1900. As I understand, no further actions will be taken concerning changes to the rehabiliation and medical rules.

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry sponsored its 2nd Annual Workers’ Compensation Policy Summit June 14 through 16, 2010, at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, Minn. The program featured various speakers and multiple breakout sessions concerning issues surrounding the Minnesota’s workers’ compensation system. The conference program can be found here.

Keynote speakers at the program included:

• Kevin Warren, Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief Administrative Officer Minnesota Vikings, Eden Prairie, Minn;
• Jeffrey Jacobs, Mayor St. Louis Park, Minn;
• Doug Huseby, Chief Executive Officer Becker Furniture World, Becker Minn; and
• Matthew Monsein, M.D., Medical Director Courage Center’s Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program, Golden Valley, Minn.

Unfortunately, I did not get an opportunity to attend the program this year. I understand that from several of the attendees that it was well received.  One of the main issues discussed at the Policy Summit was Commissioner Steve Sviggum’s most recent push to change various workers’ compensation benefits. As I posted earlier this month,  the Commissioner has proposed various amendments to vocational rehabilitation including:

• QRC maximum hourly rates will decrease by 15%, 25%, or 50%  for based on weeks after the first in person meeting with the injured worker (39/52/104 weeks)
• Mandatory Rehabilitation Conference between 70-74 weeks after first in person conference.
• Bonuses for “successful” rehabilitation.

Following the conference I have discovered that “revisions” have since been made to the proposed rehabilitation rules including:

• The reducition to QRC fees of 50% after 104 weeks or $10,500 has been withdrawn;
• The reduction in fees by 50% for medical management applies to all QRCs and not just who are currently licensed or registered health care providers;
• The $1,000 ”bonus” is not called a “rehabiliation expense for succesful rehabiliation” and now payable only to the employee.

The comment session for the proposed rules has been left open until July 16, 2010. A hearing could be held on the issues sometime in late August of 2010 at the earliest. DOLI will need provide their rationale at the time of the notice of hearing as to why they feel these changes are “necessary.”

In their present form these revisions will drastically effect an injured workers’ ability to receive rehabilitation services. It is easy for someone to say that QRCs should be paid less. Incidentally, it just as easy it is to say that politicians or business owners make too much money. However, QRCs, just like all small business owners, need to be paid enough to turn a reasonable profit to stay afloat. Otherwise, good QRCs may have to close their doors.   This, in turn, could result in substandard services which will ultimately effect an injured workers ability to find and hold suitable gainful employment.

Unfortunately, the rule changes would have the most effect on the injured workers who need the rehabilitation services the most. In particular, those with debilitating injuries and those potentially needing retraining. As we know, some traumatic injuries result in the need for retraining. However, a QRC, under the current rules changes, would be required to be paid less, despite the fact they may be required to do more for the injured worker. As result, you may even see QRCs turning down their clients because they just can’t afford to provide services.

If you feel like commenting on the proposals they can be addressed to Laura Alsides, rules coordinator -E-mail: dli.rules@state.mn.us – Phone: (651) 284-5006.

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry requests comments on its possible amendment to rules governing worker’s compensation medical services and fees, penalties, and certified managed care. Although all the rules in Minnesota Rules, chapters 5218, 5220 and 5221 are being considered for amendment, the department is specifically considering amendments to: Minn. R. 5221.0500, subp. 2 governing prevailing charges for medical services; Minn. R. 5221.0600 and Minn. R. 5221.0700 governing payer and provider responsibilities for submission and payment of medical charges; Minn. R. chapter 5220 with respect to penalties for failure to pay or deny medical charges as required by applicable law; and Minn. R. chapter 5221 to establish a fee for surgical implants. The department is also considering the amendment or repeal of Minn. R. 5218.0600, governing billing and payment of medical services provided by health care providers who participate in certified workers’ compensation managed care plans.

A draft of the proposed amendments is available here.

The Medical Services Review Board will discuss the possible rules at a meeting on Tues., June 8, 2010, at 5 p.m. in the Minnesota Room at the Department of Labor and Industry

Written comments, questions, requests to receive a draft of the rules when available, and requests for more information on these possible rules should be directed to: Laura Alsides, Department of Labor and Industry, 443 Lafayette Rd. N., St. Paul, MN 55155; telephone: (651) 284- 5006; e-mail: dli.rules@state.mn.us. TTY users may call the Department of Labor and Industry at (651) 297-4198.

Interested persons or groups may submit comments or information on these possible rules in writing until 4:30 p.m. on July 16, 2010.