Category: Downloads

By Posted on Posted in Calculators, Case Law, Downloads, Free, PDRater, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Whats the WCAB doing NOW???
What's the WCAB doing NOW???

UPDATE 9/3/2009:  Download the new en banc Ogilvie II and Almaraz/Guzman II decisions here!

Need a FREE sample Ogilvie analysis brief complete with citations?

Some crazy stuff has happened in the last two days.  ((Photo courtesy of Kyle Kesselring)) Two big en banc decisions were just handed down from the WCAB. Here they are, hot off the presses and ready for downloading:

Of the two cases, I enjoyed Ogilvie v. City and County of San Francisco much more.  This case describes to what extent the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule may be rebutted ((Basically just the DFEC portion.)) and how one might go about doing this.

Pages 22 through 32 are basically nothing but math.  ((Yay!))  These pages detail the information and methodology necessary to rebut the DFEC portion of the 2005 Schedule.

Last night I wrote a prototype calculator which will allow you to determine whether you may or may not be able to rebut the DFEC portion of the 2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule.  This calculator would only perform the DFEC rebuttal calculations suggested in the majority opinion, since this is now the law of the land.  My plan is to test it this weekend and launch it Monday.

However, if anyone is interested in helping me test it, I would appreciate the help.  Just drop me a line and I’ll give you the link as soon as its ready.

In the meantime, if you want to crunch the numbers yourself (or follow along with the WCAB in Ogilvie), you will probably find Table A and Table B page 1-7 of the 2005 PDRS to be very helpful.

FYI, there are a lot of “footnotes” in Ogilvie that reference various online documents or websites.  I’ve downloaded a copy or provided a screenshot of each of these pages for your reference:

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Block Letters
Block Letters

According to a recent DIR news bulletin on November 17, 2008 the new WCAB Rules of Practice and Procedure were approved by the Office of Administrative Law and filed with the Secretary of the State and (apparently) made effective that same day.  If you haven’t already reviewed the new regulations, now’s a good time.  You can check them using the above links or download it here:

New WCAB Rules of Practice and Procedure (Effective 11-17-2008)

Since the new WCAB rules became effective, the new EAMS forms are now mandatory.  The exceptions named in the above bulletin are:

  • There will be a four-week “transition period” in effect through December 12, 2008 during which the “legacy” ((Read: non-EAMS)) forms will still be accepted.
  • Forms requiring multiple signatures will be accepted in “legacy” form as long as the filer establishes that circulation began prior to November 17, 2008.  ((I suppose the easiest way to demonstrate this is to point out that at least one of the signatures was dated prior to 11/17/2008.))
  • Unrepresented injured workers will be allowed until February 17, 2009 to use “legacy” forms.
  • Unrepresented injured workers who do not have access to a computer or typewriter will be allowed to fill in the new OCR forms by printing using block letters. ((Though, I suppose printing clearly in all-capital letters migh work better…)) ((Photo courtesy of Thomas Hawk.))

Did you know there’s a handbook for the new Optical Character Recognition EAMS forms?  You can check it out here or download it here:

EAMS OCR Handbook (Rev. 11-24-2008)

By Posted on Posted in 1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, Calculators, CSS, Downloads, Free, PDRater, Permanent Partial Disability, Subscription Features, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,
Running Puppy
This puppy has nothing to do with this post whatsoever.

Last Friday I announced some “website tweaks.”  Since then a paid subscriber ((As opposed to a free subscriber)) reiterated a feature request. ((Thanks Marc!)) As a paid subscriber, he is able to calculate an unlimited number of ratings so that they all show up on a single page.  Basically, he wanted to be able to see the dollar value for a particular permanent partial disability percentage at the same time as a rating.

This isn’t the first time I’ve wrestled with the problems in creating such a feature.  There are several problems with incorporating this feature into the calculator’s page.

  1. The rating calculator and the dollar value of permanent disability calculators cannot be open at the same time.
  2. The rating calculator does not require the date of injury, just the age of the injured worker.  Without the date of injury, the website cannot properly display the dollar value of a permanent partial disability percentage.
  3. When a paid subscriber has performed more than one rating calculation on a page, the website cannot decide which rating string to convert into the equivalent number of dollars.

This exact feature had been suggested by other users in the past. ((And even some competitors!!!))  My original thinking was that trying to accommodate this feature request would involve too many unknown variables.  After giving the matter some more thought, here’s what I’ve come up with:

  • Paid subscribers benefit from improved print formatting. Basically, I’ve created a special file that changes the way the calculator page looks when a paid subscriber is printing.  ((The special file is actually just some CSS to optimize page for printing.))  Paid subscribers benefit from having the calculator page streamlined specifically for printing.
  • Paid subscribers can have more than one calculator open at a time. This one feature probably addresses 90% of this user’s concerns.  If you’re able to keep both calculators open at the same time, it should be easy to perform a rating and then turn the percentage into a dollar value.
  • Paid subscribers receive automatic calculations of dollar value of ratings. When a paid subscriber performs a rating calculation, the “Dollar Value of Permanent Disability” calculator automatically opens and the dollar value of the rating is automatically calculated.  The user will still have to adjust calculation to account for the year of the injury.  However, this is probably the most elegant solution to this issue.

By Posted on Posted in 1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, Author, Business, Calculators, Combined Values Chart, Downloads, Free, Links, Multiple Disabilities Table, PDRater, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I am constantly trying to think of ways in which to improve this website and to make it a better resource for California Workers’ Compensation professionals.  If you’ve got an idea as to how I can improve this site, drop me a line and let me know.

  1. Links to online Medical Provider Network lists of physicians for a lot of different carriers
    • Click on “Medical Provider Network Links”
  2. The ability to search for occupational codes by the occupational title or to search for an occupational title by occupational code
    • Click on “Rating Calculator” and then “Occupation”
  3. Links to free searchable versions of the California Labor Code and California Code of Regulations
    • Click on “Workers’ Compensation Resource Links”
  4. Links to the State of California search pages for medical doctors, chiropractors, osteopaths, podiatrists, accupuncturists, optomotrists, psychologists, and dentists
    • Click on “Physician Search Links”
  5. Downloads for numerous Permanent Disability Rating Schedules – 1988, 1997, 2005, and the draft for 2009
  6. Combined Values Chart / Multiple Disabilities Table calculators
    • Click on “Rating Calculator” and then “CVC” or “MDT”
  7. A list of Commonly Used Terms in California Workers’ Compensation law

What’s that?  I only promised the top five PDRater.com features?  Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of the first rule of business:  Under promise and over deliver.

Happy Friday!