At some point in almost any work comp claim where you are paid wage loss benefits, you will receive a Notice of Intention to Discontinue benefits, commonly referred to as an NOID. An NOID is simply a form which the insurer is required to serve and file whenever they will be discontinuing wage loss benefits. The form provides you with notice that your benefits will be ending at a certain time and explains the reason why.
Some reasons why you might receive an NOID form
1. You have returned to work. If you have been off work and receiving wage loss benefits from work comp, you have been receiving Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits. These benefits are paid at the rate of 2/3 of your average weekly wage on the date of injury. (For more information on TTD benefits, see our blog post here)
The notice tells you that the insurance company will be discontinuing those benefits because you are back to work and no longer entitled to TTD benefits. If you are returning to work, with restrictions from your injury but earning less than your preinjury wage, you may be entitled to partial wage loss benefits (TPD) and the NOID form should reflect that you will be paid TPD benefits upon returning to work. It doesn’t matter whether you are going back to work for the same employer or whether you have found a new job since the injury.
2. You have exhausted your TTD benefits. For dates of injury between 10/1/95 and 9/30/08, you are limited to 104 weeks of TTD benefits. This means that even if you are still out of work because of the injury, you cannot receive more than 104 weeks of TTD and your benefits will end. For injuries on or after 10/1/08, the maximum number of TTD benefits was increased from 104 to 130 weeks.
3. Your weekly earnings have reached or exceeded your preinjury wage. If you have been working at a wage loss and receiving TPD benefits, those benefits will end once you get back to your preinjury wage, because you no longer have a wage loss.
4. You have reached Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). If you are receiving TTD benefits, those benefits will end 90 days after you are provided with notice that you have reached MMI. An MMI opinion can come from one of your treating physicians or from a doctor who has examined you for the insurance company (this is called an Independent Medical Exam (IME), more information about an IME can be found here). The explanation for why your benefits are being discontinued must be included on the NOID form.
5. You no longer have work restrictions. If your treating physician, or the IME doctor, gives an opinion that you have no work restrictions as a result of the work injury, you are no longer eligible for wage loss benefits. Most often, this occurs following an IME where the insurance company doctor writes a report and gives the opinion that you have fully recovered from the work injury or that any restrictions you have are not related to the work injury. Sometimes, your own doctor may lift all restrictions without fully understanding how this might affect your claim. (For more information about choosing a physician for a work comp claim, click here).
What you can do if you receive an NOID
Your options after receiving an NOID are explained on the form and will depend upon the reasons for the discontinuance. If you disagree with the discontinuance of benefits or the reasons given, you can request a telephone conference with a work comp judge to argue your position. The time frame to dispute a discontinuance if you want an immediate conference is generally 12 days. The NOID form provides you with a phone number and address and explains how to request the conference.
If you have an attorney, you should obviously make sure that he or she has received a copy of the NOID form and will be requesting a conference on your behalf if you disagree with the discontinuance of your benefits. If you don’t have an attorney, this would be a very good time to contact one. At the discontinuance conference, the insurance company will be represented by either a claims adjuster or an attorney. The discontinuance of your benefits is a serious matter and you should have an experienced work comp attorney representing you at that conference.
If you win at the conference and the judge agrees that your benefits should not be discontinued, the insurance company may appeal but they will have to continue paying your benefits until a formal hearing is scheduled. However, if you lose at the conference, you may appeal but you will not receive any benefits while you wait for the formal hearing and a decision. Having an attorney represent you at the initial conference will generally give you a much better chance to win.
There are some other reasons why your benefits might be discontinued, but these are the most common situations that we typically see.
Contact Us If You Have Questions about Your Claim
If you have been injured on the job and have questions about the Minnesota work comp system, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. You can contact us anytime, with questions about your case or to arrange an absolutely free consultation. It won’t cost you anything and we will always give you our honest assessment about whether you need a lawyer to represent you. If you have questions or concerns about the cost of hiring an attorney, you can check out this previous post- How much does it cost to hire a workers’ compensation lawyer in Minnesota?
At Bradt Law Offices, we have been providing assistance to injured workers all across northern Minnesota and the Iron Range for more than 32 years.
As always, thank you for visiting our blog and please spread the word that we are a good source of work comp information for workers injured in northern Minnesota or anywhere on the Iron Range.
