We’ve all had to deal with the absurdity of government bureaucracy at one time or another. It can be frustrating. When the bureaucracy affects one of your loved ones, it can be worse. Particularly for a Mother who just wants to see her son get the benefits he earned. What makes matters worse in this case is it appears a law firm, hired by the state, did all they could do to see the case dragged on because by doing so, their fees piled up.
Below is an excerpt of a letter from Cathy Hockman to the Virginia Workers Compensation Commission. If the name sounds familiar, it’s Matt Hockman’s Mom and she’s writing about Matt’s brother:
The title Virginia Workers’ Compensation is an oxymoron. There is no real compensation in this curse of a system, put in place to protect the employers from law suits and to line the pockets of the greedy law firms who represent them, the insurance carriers, and their adjusters.
This system does not protect the injured worker; on the contrary it leaves him vulnerable, and allows him to be manipulated, humiliated, neglected, and rendered financially ruined.
The fifth anniversary of my son’s catastrophic workplace accident was December 11, 2012. Tragically his young life has been forever altered by his injuries. My son fell head first to the concrete floor in the warehouse of a Best Buy store in Chesapeake, VA. He suffered skull fractures, an epidural hematoma, which required a craniotomy, a ruptured ear drum, a sprained neck, a broken shoulder, a broken arm, a broken elbow, a broken wrist, and a dislocated knee.
The arm and knee injuries required closed reductions. He suffers from vision, cognitive, memory, and speech issues. He tests positive for seizure disorder. He suffers from severe debilitating headaches; he has been awarded all of his injuries and Lifetime Medical. He was just a part-time worker and full-time college student when he was thrust into this system. What has been more devastating than his horrific accident has been his treatment allowed by a system that has turned their back on him, and is a lie with its very name . . . The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission.
The entities who have greatly benefited from my son’s Lifetime Medical award have been the adjuster and the law firm of Midkiff, Muncie & Ross.The law firm’s delays, subpoenas, depositions, and outrageously frivolous requests over the years have cost the ignorant and unenlightened insurance carrier and employer a huge amount of money in unnecessary and vexatious legal practices; The third-party adjuster has certainly enjoyed the added billing opportunities as well.
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My family was even deposed, causing all of us to miss work and lose wages. How can this go on and go unnoticed? Why isn’t there a place in the Virginia State Police Insurance Fraud Program to include and investigate this obvious type of abuse and misuse by law firms such as this one? This has been typical and repeated for the last 5 years!
“Insurance fraud is a crime that occurs when someone tries to make money from insurance transactions through deception” –This definition was copied from the State Police website.
My son can never be adequately, medically or financially compensated for his near death, permanent brain injury and multiple permanent orthopedic injuries. Despicably, the law firm has made a fortune off of my son’s tragic event, much, much more money than my son will ever see to care for his medical needs now; and especially as his health deteriorates as he ages.
Read the rest of the letter here.
Ask yourself? Do you really want the federal government in control of the health care system?