Nine Years Ago Today, Still getting screwed over by CNA !

July 7, 2003

Nine years ago you get that phone call you hoped you’d never get

But hey they say, not to worry, the insurance company will take care of everything

Heart is breaking but not to worry

Everything, they say, will be OK

Good thing we’ve been paying for good medical insurance

No way of knowing that the “insurance” was Defense Base Act through CNA, a policy we had never heard of,  looked at, or signed for

Or that  Administrative Law Judge Paul C Johnson would deem his injuries to be alleged when denying him his rights under the DBA

One day we’ll look back at this and be so grateful for our blessings, for what we’ve overcome………

But one day never comes

What’s that in the way?

CNA 

CNA with the assistance of the Department of Labor District Office in Jacksonville

From failing to provide a medical evacuation and abandoning him to the military medical system to defaulting on the order to provide his medical care for nearly two years now after denying for six years.

CNA, their Claims Adjusters, their overly zealous legal representation, and the biased Department of Labor District Office have caused much more physical, mental, and financial  damage than there ever had to be. 

What should have been temporary disabilities have become permanent.

CNA has denied the looking back one day, the moving forward, the healing

If CNA had simply lived up to their responsibilities rather than playing paper games this family would have long moved on

And the US Taxpayers would not be paying ever more to the War Profiteers CNA and their “representation”

Documents showed that CNA reported the highest profits margins, taking in nearly 50 percent more in premiums than it paid out in benefits.

CNA’s Deadly Paper Games, Just another CNA DBA Suicide in the making

It is certainly going to have the desired result. 

They are going to kill him and it is going to be soon. 

Before the year is out I believe this man is going to commit suicide.

PTSD Claims to be Expedited

CNA’s Deadly Paper Games do not begin or end with this Injured War  Zone Contractor

Nearly 14 months to the day of a Department of Labor District Director signing an Order approved by an ALJ stating that CNA must provide medical for a  severely Injured War Zone Contractor’s injuries, the details of which were gagged…..

And 3 1/2 months after Injured War Zone Contractor asked the District Director to find them in Default for not doing so……..

CNA produces a stack of  FAXES supposedly sent to Injured War Zone Contractors Doctors stating that they have “re-approved” payment of diagnoses and treatment, most of which were never approved, ever, much less “re- approved”.  In fact for most of the Doctors CNA denied diagnoses and treatment for blast injuries for many years.

Several Doctors stated that yes they received a FAX but that it did not mean they accepted the approval and that it did not guarantee payment.  Payment would have to made in advance.  CNA’s reputation for non payment is no secret.

The rest of the doctors state that they never received “approval” at all.

Unemployed and otherwise uninsured Injured War Zone Contractor pays for some visits via credit card as they are so vital.  Doctor then sends a bill to CNA for payment despite not having received an approval,  which CNA refuses.  Injured War Zone Contractors scheduled visits are then cancelled due to non payment by CNA.

These are deadly games CNA plays in order to continue to deny medical even after a hard won order is produced.

And who do they claim is vague, ambiguous, and whose claims are not supported by Facts, or should we say FAX?

It must be the very well respected and credentialed doctors, or the Attorney, or the Injured War Zone Contractor

This negligent paper game continues despite a recent medical report from February stating:

“I do not understand the entire bureaucracy issue.  He tells me that CNA has written to us and that we are approved for Workers’ Compensation.  We have no record to that effect.  We are just not going to be paid and they are not going to authorize treatment.  Bureaucracies have their problems but this almost seems to be purposeful.

It is certainly going to have the desired result.  They are going to kill him and it is going to be soon.  Before the year is out I believe this man is going to commit suicide.

And he’ll be just another CNA DBA Suicide.

Note:   CNA’s response is to ask for an informal conference.  Several informal conferences, a settlement conference with a Judge, orders signed by a Judge and the District Director, and yet another informal conference after an 18 month default is even a consideration???  Let’s just run this out until the end of year and we won’t have to worry about this guy anyway!!!!

Accidental Death Becomes Suicide When Insurers Dodge Paying Life Benefits

Bloomberg March 1, 2011

Jane Pierce spent nine years struggling alongside her husband, Todd, as he fought cancer in his sinus cavity. The treatments were working. Then, in July 2009, Todd died in a fiery car crash. He was 46. That was the beginning of a whole new battle for Jane Pierce, this time with Todd’s life insurance company, MetLife Inc.

A state medical examiner and a sheriff in Rosebud County, Montana, concluded that Pierce’s death was an accident, caused when he lost control of his silver GMC pickup after passing a car on a two-lane road.

Their findings meant Jane was eligible to collect $224,000 on the accidental death insurance policy that Todd had through his employer, power producer PPL Corp. MetLife, however, refused to pay. The nation’s largest life insurer told Pierce on Dec. 8, 2009, that her husband had killed himself. The policy didn’t cover suicide, the insurer said, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its April issue.

“How dare they suggest such a thing,” says Pierce, 44, a physician assistant in Colstrip, a Montana mining and power production city of 2,346 people.

She says she’s insulted that the man who courageously battled his disease for a decade was accused by an insurance company of abandoning his wife and two sons — one a U.S. Marine, the other a National Guardsman — and giving up on his fight to live.

Pierce argued with MetLife for months. She supplied the insurer with the autopsy report, medical records and a letter from the medical examiner saying the death was accidental. MetLife still said no. Finally, in May 2010, she sued.

In July, a year after Todd’s death, MetLife settled and paid Pierce the full $224,000 due on the policy. The New York- based insurer, as part of the agreement, denied wrongdoing and paid Pierce no interest or penalties for the year during which it held her money.

Life insurers have found myriad ways to delay and deny paying death benefits to families, civil court cases across the U.S. show. Since 2008, federal judges have concluded that some insurers cheated survivors by twisting facts, fabricating excuses and ignoring autopsy findings in withholding death benefits.

Insurers can make erroneous arguments with near impunity when it comes to the 112.8 million life and accidental death policies provided by companies and associations to their employees and members. That’s because of loopholes in a federal law intended to protect worker benefits.

Please read the entire story here

Who Do I Complain to that the DBA Insurer has no Duty of Care ?

We found this question being asked quite a few times this morning.  We certainly do not have the answer.  If we did this blog would not be necessary.  The Department of Labor refuses to respond to our questions though they have a public information email address.

It is obviously not the Department of Labor or their  Administrative Law Judges.  They recommend and order that the DBA Insurer must provide medical care, is LIABLE for medical care, but they do nothing to see that it happens.

South African Injured Contractor Daniel Brink Loses Family, Loses
Home, nearly loses life due to CNA Insurance Company

They do have the ability to deny the right to sell DBA insurance to any of these companies that so recklessly delay and deny medical benefits that they have been contracted to provide.

Maybe the Department of Labor could tell us why they have not denied the privilege of selling DBA insurance to these companies who refuse to provide medical?

Yes, AIG, CNA, ACE are KILLING YOU

AIG, CNA, and ACE are causing  your general health to deteriorate with every day that they deny you diagnoses and treatment of PTSD.

AIG, CNA, ACE even contribute to many injured contractors  MDD and PTSD with these negligent and bad faith insurance practices.

Yes, AIG, CNA, ACE are  KILLING YOU !!

Reasearch Examines Link between PTSD and Inflamation

BETHESDA, MD—The science into the biological mechanisms behind the psychological symptoms of PTSD is still in its infancy, but studies have linked PTSD to other serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease, chronic pain, fatigue, and metabolic disorders. Research funded by NIH is suggesting that the cause of this link might have its roots in endocrine and immune function differences in patients with PTSD and most significantly in those with co-morbid major depressive disorder.

Inflammation and PTSD

“PTSD and major depressive disorder (MDD) share a common vulnerability along the experience of a trauma, such that they are highly comorbid. Depression is a significant risk factor for the onset of PTSD following a trauma,” explained Jessica Gill, PhD, RN, an assistant clinical investigator at the National Institute of Nursing Research, during an NIH clinical center lecture last month. “When the two diseases are comorbid, additional medical conditions present, including conditions that have an inflammatory pathology.”

Gill’s research over the last few years has led her to describe the endocrine and immune function differences in patients with PTSD and MDD, and to link inflammatory risks in those patients with subsequent physical health decline. “We need to understand why PTSD is often related to low levels of cortisol, especially when MDD is comorbid,” Gill said. “It’s counterintuitive to what we would think since stress such as trauma is associated with high levels of cortisol and over-activation of that system.”

It is also counterintuitive to find lower levels of cortisol—a glucocorticoid produced by the adrenal gland in times of stress—in patients with PTSD and MDD, since depression alone is associated with higher levels of plasma cortisol, Gill added. And yet in individuals who experience early life trauma and have MDD without PTSD, studies show lower levels of cortisol in their systems.

Studies have also found that patients with PTSD and comorbid MDD have greater levels of the inflammatory marker interleukin-6 (IL-6). “Studies of Katrina survivors and survivors of myocardial infarctions show higher levels of IL-6 in those patients with PTSD and MDD. But when depression is controlled for, these findings are no longer significant,” Gill explained.

In a study published in 2008, Gill looked at baseline endocrine and immune function in women with PTSD, women with PTSD and comorbid MDD, and controls. She and her colleagues found that cortisol was significantly lower in those women with PTSD and inflammatory markers were significantly higher. There was also a trend of elevation in the PTSD and MDD group compared to PTSD alone. There were similar findings in a previous study of male and female refugees.

However, in studies of male combat veterans with PTSD and no MDD, there were higher immune cell counts in relation to cortisol levels.

A 2009 study by Gill looked at overnight levels of endocrine and immune markers in PTSD and MDD patient populations, and added the injection of hydrocortisone upon waking. The study confirmed that individuals with PTSD and MDD had significantly reduced levels of cortisol, especially in the morning hours. The researchers focused on nocturnal levels because patients with PTSD frequently suffer from sleep/wake cycle disturbances that significantly impact health. Also, high levels of IL-6 prior to waking have been shown to be a significant risk factor for myocardial infarction.

The study found IL-6 to be significantly elevated in the PTSD and MDD group. But it was the PTSD without MDD group that was hyper-responsive to the administration of hydrocortisone. For those patients with PTSD and MDD, even after administration of hydrocortisone, their IL-6 levels remained significantly higher. This could have significant impact on patient health, since inflammatory markers have been linked to significant risk for mortality and morbidity.

Workers Comp Insider Wins Top National Blog Award

Workers Comp Insider is a favorite of ours here at this blog.

Their perspective on issues facing all aspects of Workers Comp are much appreciated.

Fraudulent claims and bad faith insurance practices are equally destructive to a system meant to protect both workers and employers.   They’ll out you on both sides of the fence.

Thank you Tom Lynch, Jon Coppelman and Julie Ferguson for your honest and informative blog.

A few of our favorites are

Risk Transfer Without Risk

Bullshit as Science, The Fake Bad Scale

AIG in Iraq: A cruel way to make a buck

Workers Comp Insider Wins Top National Blog Award

Well, bust our balloons and call us surprised!

We learned yesterday that the Lexis Nexis Workers’ Compensation Law Center has honored the Workers Comp Insider with the award of Top National Workers’ Compensation blog of 2009. With so many excellent blogs being written now, we’re proud and humbled at the same time.

When we created the Insider in September 2003, we hoped that we’d attract others to join the insurance blogosphere, but we never imagined that so many superb professionals would join the blogging rolls. Now, to be singled out for this honor is more than a little gratifying.

I need to take a moment to commend and thank Julie Ferguson for hatching the idea in 2003 and for managing the enterprise ever since. Julie is one of, if not the, nation’s foremost blog experts, and we are lucky indeed to have her at Lynch Ryan. Moreover, she’s an excellent writer who’s written about a third of all our blog posts.

And where would we be without the tireless search for blogging excellence exemplified every day by Jon Coppelman, a bona fide workers’ compensation guru. Jon’s posts are always interesting, thought-provoking, honest and well-sourced. Judging by your comments, they can also be provocative and controversial, but that’s what the medium is all about. I’m thankful for Jon’s expertise and his friendship.

In making the award, here’s what the Lexis Nexis Workers’ Compensation Law Center said about the Insider:

Workers’ Comp Insider’s excellent coverage this past year of the side effects of the economic recession on workers’ compensation, from government bailouts to bankruptcy to fraud and more, made it our choice for the Top Blog of the Year 2009 on national workers’ compensation and workplace issues. Workers’ Comp Insider also proved again the power of a company blog to showcase the expertise of its employees as evidenced this year by articles in both The Washington Post and the Las Vegas Sun, which cited the Workers’ Comp Insider on the issues of death from a workplace injury and controlling workers’ comp costs, respectively. Workers’ Comp Insider’s in-depth research to uncover the best government and industry websites and blogs in the blogosphere was second to none in 2009, and enabled policymakers, journalists, and anyone with an interest in and passion for workers’ compensation and workplace safety to do a deep dive into a collection of online resources that they may never have heard of otherwise.

All of us at Lynch Ryan are committed to doing everything in our power during the coming year to justify this award. Thanks again to Lexis Nexis and thanks to our readers for joining us on the ever-fascinating journey that is workers compensation.

The Defense Base Act Compensation Blog

Welcome to the Defense Base Act

$$$$   We are the Best Kept Secret of the Wars   $$$$

DoL Jacksonville District Office and CNA

Blood on their Hands

 Is the Department of Labor covering up for companies who fail to provide DBA Insurance and those who fail to file claims, late or never?

and how should the taxpayer feel about them hiring “Reputation Management” Firms to cover up their cover ups?

CNA Lies to the DoL

Civilian Contractor Casualty Count

Our Fallen Contractors Memorial

At Least 121 Civilian Contractor Deaths in Third Quarter of 2012

At Least 59 Civilian Contractor Deaths in Second Quarter of 2012

At Least 49 Civilian Contractor Deaths filed on in First Quarter of 2012

At Least 418 Civilian Contractor Deaths in 2011

After Injury, The Battle Begins House Oversight Committee

“Something cruel, heartless and cynical took place in the back rooms of carriers with responsibility for civilian claims. If you like Edgar Alan Poe, you’ll love the claims files of AIG and CNA.”

War Hazards Act pays Insurance Companies

more for expenses

than to Claimants for compensation

Class Action Tax Misclassification filed against Xe, Formerly Blackwater

CNA May Finally Face Criminal Charges

Eysslinck Vs Ronco Consulting Injustice Prevails

CNA’s Double Agent in South Africa

CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

OVERSEAS CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS

MSSPARKY

Contact us at dbacasualty@yahoo.com

All comments made here are solely the opinion of the person commenting and not necessarily the opinion of this blog.