The New York Times recently wrote about the dangers associated with professional football and the lack of benefits available to players who aren’t stars and who are not vested in the pension plan and other post-career benefits. Such players need state workers’ compensation benefits to help them through the trauma on the road to recovery or the next part of their lives.
We at Abes Baumann have been honored to serve on the NFLPA workers’ compensation panel for many years and we take satisfaction in helping injured workers from all walks of life, whether they are athletes, construction workers, nurse’s aides, or healthcare workers.
CNN — As of Tuesday, US military veterans in an “acute suicidal crisis” can receive free treatment including inpatient care up to 30 days and outpatient care for up to 90 days.
The expanded care was announced by the Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday, and is meant to “prevent veteran suicide by guaranteeing no cost, world-class care to veterans in times of crisis.” Veterans who are seeking that care can go to any VA or non-VA health care facility, the release said, and they do not have to be enrolled in the VA system to receive care.
“Veterans in suicidal crisis can now receive the free, world-class emergency health care they deserve – no matter where they need it, when they need it, or whether they’re enrolled in VA care,” VA Secretary for Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough said in the release. “This expansion of care will save Veterans’ lives, and there’s nothing more important than that.”
The new policy says veterans who were discharged after more than two years of service under conditions other than dishonorable are eligible for the care, which will either be paid for or reimbursed by the VA.
The policy will also apply to former service members, including those in the Reserves, who served “more than 100 days under a combat exclusion or in support of a contingency operation” who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, and veterans who were the victim of sexual assault, sexual battery, or sexual harassment while serving.
According to the VA’s release, the policy will “[p]rovide, pay for, or reimburse for treatment” of eligible veterans’ emergency suicide care, transportation costs, and follow-up care at a VA or non-VA facility, to include 30 days of inpatient care and 90 days of outpatient.
The policy will also allow the VA to make “appropriate referrals” after a period of emergency suicide care, determine veterans’ eligibility for other service and benefits from the VA, and refer veterans who received the emergency care to other VA programs and benefits.
The VA’s 2022 report on veteran suicide said that in 2020, 6,146 US veterans died by suicide, which was 343 fewer than seen in 2019. Suicide was the 13th leading cause of death among veterans in 2020, the report said, and the second leading cause of death among veterans under 45 years old.
A Defense Department report released in October 2022 found that 519 US service members, including active duty, Reserve, and National Guard troops, died by suicide in 2021.
Expanding care for veterans at high risk of suicide was the second priority goal of a military and veteran suicide prevention strategy released by the White House in 2021. “Individuals at imminent or high risk of suicide should be guaranteed equitable access to high quality crisis care and follow-on support,” the strategy report said.
President Joe Biden said in the 2021 report that the US is “falling short” of the “one truly sacred obligation to Americans … to care for them and their families when they return.”
“It is up to us to do everything in our power to live up to our most sacred obligations,” he said. “We owe it to the memories of those we’ve lost—and we owe it to the futures of those we might save.”
Editor’s Note: If you or a loved one have contemplated suicide, call The National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to connect with a trained counselor.
Abes Baumann announced Madalyn Jester has joined the firm as an associate attorney of law. Jester will service the firm’s Veterans’ Benefits and Workers’ Compensation divisions. Before joining Abes Baumann as a paralegal in 2021, Jester served as a paralegal and law clerk with Lewis, Lewis, and Reilly for nearly a decade.
PHILADELPHIA — Two years after a pair of former players sued the NFL over the treatment of Black retirees in the league’s $1 billion concussion settlement, hundreds of men whose medical tests were rescored to eliminate race bias now qualify for awards.
The newly approved payouts, announced in a report Friday, are a victory for NFL families in the decade-long legal saga over concussions. The 2020 lawsuit unearthed the fact that the dementia tests were being “race-normed” — adjusted due to assumptions that Black people have a lower cognitive baseline score. Changes to the settlement made last year are meant to make the tests race-blind.
The new results will add millions to the NFL’s payouts for concussion-linked brain injuries. A league spokesman did not return a phone call Friday or respond to emails sent in recent weeks seeking comment on the rescoring.
Of the 646 Black men whose tests were rescored, nearly half now qualify for dementia awards. Sixty-one are classified as having early to moderate dementia, with average awards topping $600,000, while nearly 250 more have milder dementia and will get up to $35,000 in enhanced medical testing and treatment, according to the claims administrator’s report.
Former players, lawyers and advocates say they will turn to getting the word out to more players who could receive awards.
“Our work has produced some great results and has opened many eyes,” said Ken Jenkins, a former running back who, along with his wife, petitioned the federal judge overseeing the settlement to make the changes and urged the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to investigate. “Now we’re really focused on getting as many players who deserve compensation to be compensated.”
This first group of players had the best chance of success because they otherwise passed the testing protocols and would have qualified if they were white. Thousands of other Black former players can ask to be rescored or retested, but their cases might not be as strong based on earlier results for dementia, validity and impairment tests. About 70% of active players and 60% of living retirees are Black.
The fact that the original testing algorithm adjusted scores by race — as a rough proxy for someone’s socioeconomic background — went unnoticed for several years until lawyers for former Pittsburgh Steelers players Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport sued the league. Factors such as age, education and race have long been used in neurology to help diagnose dementia, but experts say the formula was never meant to be used to determine payouts in a legal case.
“In 2022, how can you possibly think that another human being comes out of the womb with less cognitive ability? It’s just impossible to believe that that can be true,” Jenkins said. “It’s unspeakable.”
Advocates fear that many former players don’t know they can be rescored or retested, especially if they have cognitive issues and live alone.
“Men who are homeless, men who originally signed up but their cognitive function changed, men who are divorced or isolated — we are going to go looking for them,” said Amy Lewis, Jenkins’ wife.
The couple, once critical of class counsel Chris Seeger for his response to the issue, are now working with him to get the word out.
Seeger, the lead lawyer for the nearly 20,000 retired players who negotiated the settlement with the NFL, has apologized for initially failing to see the scope of the racial bias. He vowed in a recent interview to “make sure the NFL pays every nickel they should.”
The league’s tally just passed $1 billion in approved claims. However, appeals and audits mean the actual payouts lag behind that number and stand at about $916 million. They include awards for four other compensable diagnoses: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease and deaths before April 2015 involving chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
As reviewers tackle the thornier dementia claims, the process has slowed and audits and appeals intensified.
“Their mantra is deny, deny, delay until you die,” said James Pruitt, 58, a wide receiver who played for Indianapolis and Miami from 1986 to 1991.
After his NFL retirement, Pruitt became a teacher and middle school principal in Palm Beach County, Florida. But in 2010, in his mid-40s, the district asked him to step down. He could no longer perform his duties.
Over time, he stopped calling on friends from his playing days.
“I don’t get out, and I don’t remember a lot of things. I’ve been told that I repeat things,” he said. “So I’m kind of embarrassed by the whole situation.”
After the settlement was approved in 2015, Pruitt and his wife attended meetings with the lawyers who traveled the country to pitch the plan to retired players’ groups.
“We were told … this was going to be a very easy process, you just need to go to the doctors, get a qualifying diagnosis from them,” said Traci Pruitt, 42. “Yet here we are six years later, and we’re still getting the runaround.”
The couple was twice approved by doctors only to have the decision overturned — once after their first doctor was removed from the program. Their lawyer believes they will be successful on their third try, under the race-neutral scoring formula. They are still waiting to hear.
Traci Pruitt, an accountant who works from home, said an award would ensure she gets the help she needs to care for her husband.
“While I love him, I don’t necessarily have that background and skill set,” she said.
Seeger said he believes the claims process is picking up steam after a slow start.
“I know folks have said they weren’t moving that well for a while. I think we’ve won some appellate battles with the courts,” Seeger said. “I don’t think the NFL expected to pay $1 billion — and we’re about to cross $1 billion.”
Tom Baumann discusses his landmark workers compensation victory – Mary Ann Protz vs. Workers Compensation Appeal Board – and other aspects of treatment for work-related injuries with Workers Compensation Experts.
Baumann’s work in the Protz case voided the use of the Sixth Edition of the American Medical Association’s Guide to Evaluation of Permanent Injuries as a reason to reduce severely injured workers status – and benefits – from permanently disabled to partially disabled.
“Our state does a reasonable job compensating minimally and moderately impaired workers,” Baumann said, “but the severely impaired … NO!”
The Pennsylvania legislature undid the court decision a year later, though the impairment rating level to move people from permanent to partial disability was reduced from 50% to 35%.
“It was a partial victory,” Baumann said. “A lot of people who had their benefits unfairly
reduced, saw total disability benefits reinstated. With the subsequent bill reducing the level to 35% impairment, more injured workers qualified for total disability benefits and that was a positive development. You’re always trying to come up with novel ways to help your client and I think we did that.”
Baumann goes on to discuss signs workers should see that their case needs help from an attorney; what workers compensation attorneys actually do to make a difference in the case’s outcome; and why it’s worth having an attorney on your side in a workers compensation claim.
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