At Oxner + Permar, we’re always looking for opportunities to give back to the community. So this month we thought we’d spotlight a couple of the charities that we support. They’re wonderful causes, very deserving of attention.
The first charity we’re highlighting is NC MedAssist. NC MedAssist is a great program devoted to helping North Carolinians be able to afford the medical care that they need. Even with health insurance, certain medical treatments and medicines can be very expensive. That’s why NC MedAssist is devoted to ensuring that everyone has access to the care that they need.
They believe that no one should have to choose between purchasing food or affording medication. One way they help is through their Free Pharmacy Program. The current eligibility requirements for this program are:
NC MedAssist also has a senior care program that works to provide alternate options for seniors whose Medicare Part D prescription benefits run out during the year.
Their Over the Counter (OTC) Medicine Program provides free OTC medicines to families in need — it’s essentially like a food bank but for medicine!
To find out more about any of these programs or about how you can contribute, visit the NC MediAssist website. This is a really great program that’s close to our hearts. We sponsor one of their giveaway days every year, and we encourage you to get involved if you’re able!
At Oxner + Permar, we’re devoted to ensuring our clients receive the best service possible. To us, this means that you get our full time and attention. We’re not the kind of attorneys who make you wait a week before we get back to you. We take your calls, listen to your questions and concerns, and do our very best to keep you informed during every step of your workers’ compensation claim.
Your time is valuable to us, and we know that dealing with a workers’ comp claim can be stressful. We don’t want our clients anxiously waiting for an attorney to make time to answers to their questions. That’s why, if you call our office, and don’t get a call back by the end of the day, lunch is on us! We’ll send you a gift card in the mail.
In the off chance that we’re unable to return your call on the same day you reach out to us, we’ll make it up to you! We don’t want you to feel like your time isn’t valued, or that you’re just one of many clients in our system. All of our clients are important to us. Every one of our attorneys takes great care with each case they take on.
I recently had a client ask me, “What’s so special about Board Certified attorneys? Aren’t all attorneys board certified?” Interestingly enough, not all attorneys are Board Certified. Board Certification has nothing to do with certification to become an attorney. It is, in fact, an additional achievement that an attorney can strive for.
In order to become Board Certified, an attorney has to have a certain amount of experience. They have to have been practicing for at least five years in the area that they’re practicing. For instance, you wouldn’t be considered if you’d spent four years practicing family law and only one year practicing workers’ compensation. After they meet their experience requirements, they can apply to become board certified.
Their work will be reviewed extensively, and finally, they will have to take a day-long written examination. The idea behind Board Certification is continued education. The attorney must be committed to proving that they’re willing to continue learning and studying their field.
Attorneys who obtain Board Certification have to renew their certification every 5 years. This ensures that even once becoming Board Certified, an attorney’s education will continue.
So when you hire a Board Certified Workers’ Compensation specialist, you know you’re hiring someone who has been thoroughly vetted and is well educated in their field. You can bet that attorney is willing to work hard and tirelessly to make sure that your case is given the proper attention, and that a fair outcome is obtained. At Oxner + Permar, we’re proud to say that we have seven Board Certified attorneys on our team.
You may have heard that the Huntersville hospital is looking to expand its capacity. Novant Health is seeking a $45.6 million grant to add a 3-story addition to the Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center. The hospital is currently functioning at or close to capacity, and hospital officials worry that if need continues at this rate, they won’t be able to accommodate all of the patients who come through the doors.
An expansion of the facility would also mean an increase in the number of jobs the center offers as well as those jobs needed to carry out such a project. The Huntersville Medical Center will need to recruit more nurses, and in order to complete the addition in the first place, construction jobs will be need to be filled. While it’s exciting to have added jobs, it’s also important to be mindful of the possibility of injuries. Medical professionals and construction workers are both fields that see an awful lot of workers’ compensation claims.
If you work in either of these fields, make sure that you’re taking the necessary steps to protect yourself at work. Are you following proper safety guidelines and regulations? Are you properly equipped and trained to handle the machinery? Are you seeking assistance when trying to lift people or objects that are too heavy for you to handle alone?
Even if you’re following best practices and safety guidelines, accidents still happen. If you’re injured at work, you should report your injury and take the necessary steps to file for workers’ compensation. Your employer takes out workers’ comp insurance in order to cover you in these situations. Make sure you’re protecting your rights, and claiming the benefits that you deserve.
You may remember an incident last year when a massive apartment fire broke out in east Charlotte. Thanks to the hard work and bravery of 48 firefighters, the fire was extinguished in less than an hour. It’s amazing that a fire causing an estimated $200,000 in damage could be tamed so quickly. Fortunately, no residents or firefighters were injured in the fire.
Often, when people imagine work injuries or workers’ compensation, they’re thinking of injuries such as falls at work, heavy machinery accidents, or strain from repetitive motion. Many people forget that workers’ compensation also covers civil servants such as firefighters. Firefighters have physically intense jobs. Thankfully, workers’ compensation helps support the firefighters who get injured helping us.
The job of a firefighter can be dangerous. While most of us don’t think much about firefighters until there’s a call for help, their job requires them to face some pretty serious risks every day.
In fact, according to The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), firefighters die on the job at a rate nearly three to four times higher than other occupations.
While many of these deaths are preventable, some aren’t. Firefighters can get injured due to many reasons including equipment failure, structural collapse, smoke inhalation, burns, heat exhaustion, and even explosions. These injuries can range from minor cuts and bruises to major burns and amputations.
If you’re a firefighter and you’ve been hurt on the job, you might not realize that you have legal protections under workers’ compensation laws. Even though you’re covered by workers’ comp, you may still need a lawyer to protect your rights.
When firefighters are injured on the job, they often feel like they should just tough it out. After all, they signed up for this life-threatening profession knowing that they would occasionally get hurt.
But that doesn’t mean that they should accept anything less than full medical care and financial security after an injury. When firefighters are hurt on the job, they deserve to be treated fairly and compensated for their injuries.
That’s why it’s important for firefighters to understand their rights under workers’ compensation law. They must know what benefits they’re entitled to receive and how to file claims with their employers.
Unfortunately, many firefighters don’t know their rights because they haven’t had to use them before. That’s why it’s so important to contact an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer right away.
One of the biggest advantages of workers’ compensation is that it provides coverage for medical expenses and lost wages. This means that if you’re hurt while working, you won’t have to worry about paying for your treatment yourself.
Your employer will pay for any necessary medical treatment related to your workplace accident. If you lose time from work due to your injury, your employer will cover your lost wages.
Your employer may also provide additional benefits such as temporary disability payments, permanent disability payments, vocational rehabilitation services, and death benefits.
Even though workers’ compensation is designed to protect employees, sometimes it doesn’t do enough. For example, some companies try to avoid paying for medical bills or lost wages by denying that the employee was hurt in the first place.
To make sure that you get the benefits you deserve, you may choose to hire a workers’ compensation attorney who knows how to fight for your rights.
At Oxner + Permar, we’re very appreciative of the work that firefighters do for us and our community. If you’re a firefighter who has been hurt on the job or know someone who is, we’d be more than happy to answer any questions about injuries sustained while at work. The service you provide is invaluable, and we want to make sure that your rights are being protected. To all of you who put your lives on the line for public well being: Thank you!