Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Lip Service

Whether federal disability or workers compensation disability we all expect fairness and justice in the process. That expectation is not realistic. Far too often good people are misinterpreting lip service for reality. Lip service says you should be promptly and fairly treated. If you have an injury you should receive quality care and benefits. If you lose your job you should be compensated. You should be communicated with by the insurer and taken care of by the law. In Social Security you should receive benefits for total disability where you cannot effectively work anymore and it should kick in as soon as possible. Reality? No. Instead 25% of the people with a work injury in Colorado have their claim contested. This means prove it before a Judge and until then you may receive very little if any benefits. A hearing takes a few months to receive but even if successful the insurer can appeal. Starvation and lack of adequate medical care can be a big problem. Even with treatment and some benefits the insurance always looks for the lowest way to calulate benefits. This does not mean the adjuster is mean or being tough on you...it is just a fact that insurance seeks to save money and that can be at your expense. Social Security hearings take months to obtain and it could be years before benefits are coming if at all! Prompt and fair? No way. As Americans we believe in fairness and justice. That is the American way but reality can be quite different from the lip service. Here is a link to one story about how the Social Security office was cut back yet claims were increasing. Sometimes you do wonder if it is a planned effort to end the current system by making it worse then it should be. Anyway here is the link to the story.

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