Thanks WCB!

[trigger7mm]

Thanks a lot WCB. After 30 years of doing electrical work, I started having shoulder problems. Degenerative tears in my rotator cuffs and strained muscles added up to sever range of motion problems, and pain. 3 tears in left shoulder, and 1 on the right. I have tried everything to help myself with this. Lazer therapy, shock wave therapy, acupuncture, ART treatments, massage, physiotherapy....nothing was working. Finally went to my doctor, and he did an assessment, and put in a WCB claim so that I could go to Red Deer for intensive physiotherapy. I was assessed there by their doctor as well and he agreed I had to have help. Started doing 4 hour sessions in the gym under the guidance of 5 different trainers. After 7 day


my range of motion was slowly starting to come back. I thought, this is great, finally something that is starting to show improvement. Then one day, 7 days in, my case manager with workman’s comp calls and says my claim has been cancelled. She says it is because the injury is degenerative, and not an acute injury. Just like that, I was shut down by someone who is in an WCB office in Edmonton. I guess my fault was being honest with them, and not saying the injury was caused by falling off a ladder. I have been doing the same stretching and strength exercises at my home gym, but it is certainly not the same. Having professionals there to tweet things and adjust progression was everything. My question is how can somebody sitting in a cubicle in Edmonton, go against the diagnosis of 2 different doctors, and just pull a claim. The physio people in Red Deer were floored when I told them what they had done. Now I am slowly regressing back to square one, and it is frustrating to no end! Thanks for reading my rant. Just had to vent I guess. Have a great day everyone.

[CaberTosser]

I wonder where places such as the WCB and insurance companies find their staff? There must be some special way their HR staff locate people with perfect vacuums where their empathy and humanity should be.

[Red Bullets]

Appeal the WCB decision. WCB is famous for making a person jump those kind of thru hoops.

Also, there is a workers advocate that might be able to help.
https://www.workerscompensationexpert.ca/

[bobalong]

It seems like the WCB now operates like many of the insurance companies......just say no when it comes to coverage. WCB which was started to help the working people when injured at work but because of abuse of the system it has now become sarcastic, arrogant and a source of constant stress for injured workers.
In many cases the constant intimidation has people walking away as the stress has become worse than the injury. Once again the abusers of the system has resulted in legitimate users of the system with little or no help.

[ReconWilly]

The problem with WCB is that it is employer funded to protect employers., NOT employee funded to support employees.

It is insurance for your employer,NOT for you.

Another system that needs a massive overhaul.

[trigger7mm]

Originally Posted by bobalong

It seems like the WCB now operates like many of the insurance companies......just say no when it comes to coverage. WCB which was started to help the working people when injured at work but because of abuse of the system it has now become sarcastic, arrogant and a source of constant stress for injured workers.
In many cases the constant intimidation has people walking away as the stress has become worse than the injury. Once again the abusers of the system has resulted in legitimate users of the system with little or no help.

Seem like you hit right on the head Bobalong.

[trigger7mm]

Originally Posted by ReconWilly

The problem with WCB is that it is employer funded to protect employers., NOT employee funded to support employees.

It is insurance for your employer,NOT for you.

Another system that needs a massive overhaul.

You too have it right ReconWilly.

[Don_Parsons]

Ask for a WCB adjudicator, keep all conversations and dates, they will help you out alot.

These folks know their stuff

[bowshot]

Appeal that decision. Its standard practice for them to deny claims as a cost savings tool. They know how many clients will appeal, how many just fold up and they use that to their advantage. Keep to your history and dont deviate.

[ghostguy6]

The biggest problem is WCB hires their own doctors to make decisions. When the case manager doesn't understand the medical diagnosis they kick the file up to these doctors for review who then makes a decision without ever actually seeing the person, solely based on the notes in the file. I have a family friend that is a case manger for WCB, they refer to these doctors as "desk doc's" because they never see a real patient but have a medical doctorate.

Another part of the problem is the amount of fraudulent complaints they receive, the verification process can cause problems for many real cases. This really aggravates things when the injury could be related to other things like old age when there is no immediately identifiable cause.

I certainly agree that WCB is set up to protect the employers not the employee's. The whole bureaucratic aspect makes them a pain to deal with.

[HoytCRX32]

Nothing beats a good bureaucracy eh? Sorry to hear.

[Albertadiver]

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/e...83128540106757

And they wonder why they had to upgrade security at their offices. Frustrating to say the least! Hope you get things straightened out.

[Trochu]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

I wonder where places such as the WCB and insurance companies find their staff?.

No overtime, no weekends, no physical work, working for the government so essentially guaranteed wage and position, appeals to alot of people.

[fish_e_o]

Originally Posted by trigger7mm

Thanks a lot WCB. After 30 years of doing electrical work, I started having shoulder problems. Degenerative tears in my rotator cuffs and strained muscles added up to sever range of motion problems, and pain.



She says it is because the injury is degenerative, and not an acute injury.

wcb is for acute injuries and disability insurance is for degenerative stuff

it sounds like you weren't covered and tax payers paid for some stuff for you anyway

[trigger7mm]

These guys are the very definition of beauorcracy!

[trigger7mm]

Originally Posted by fish_e_o

wcb is for acute injuries and disability insurance is for degenerative stuff

it sounds like you weren't covered and tax payers paid for some stuff for you anyway

I’m a taxpayer myself. In fact, I’ve been paying them for over 42 years. Never had a claim in my life up until now, and have worked through several different injuries in my career. They don’t seem to mind taking insurance money from our employers, but like all other insurance rackets, they don’t want to give back either. As I said, 2 different doctors, including their own doctor, assessed and approved the need for help. Try going for months, not being able to put your hand on your head or behind your back, or get a solid sleep for that matter. Being on here I assume you’re a hunter. Not much fun when you can’t lift your gun to your shoulder. Like I said before, typical government beauocrats. If you think a hard working Canadian citizen who needs some help is a waste of taxpayers money, maybe consider what our government does for immigrants to this country.

[BlackHeart]

Originally Posted by trigger7mm

I’m a taxpayer myself. In fact, I’ve been paying them for over 42 years. Never had a claim in my life up until now, and have worked through several different injuries in my career. They don’t seem to mind taking insurance money from our employers, but like all other insurance rackets, they don’t want to give back either. As I said, 2 different doctors, including their own doctor, assessed and approved the need for help. Try going for months, not being able to put your hand on your head or behind your back, or get a solid sleep for that matter. Being on here I assume you’re a hunter. Not much fun when you can’t lift your gun to your shoulder. Like I said before, typical government beauocrats. If you think a hard working Canadian citizen who needs some help is a waste of taxpayers money, maybe consider what our government does for immigrants to this country.

Even worse than govt beauracrats......

The head of WCB gets an nice $200,000 bonus each year.
Senior staff get around $100,000.

That bonus is for NOT PAYING out claims.

Even the staff get bonuses for denying claims and for taking courses.

Talk about conflict of interest and hypocrisy.

[trigger7mm]

Originally Posted by BlackHeart

Even worse than govt beauracrats......

The head of WCB gets an nice $200,000 bonus each year.
Senior staff get around $100,000.

That bonus is for NOT PAYING out claims.

Even the staff get bonuses for denying claims and for taking courses.

Talk about conflict of interest and hypocrisy.

Could this be another example of our hard earned tax dollars feeding the beauocrats? I feel a little less ashamed about wasting tax dollars looking for a way to get back to work!

[fish_e_o]

Originally Posted by trigger7mm

I’m a taxpayer myself. In fact, I’ve been paying them for over 42 years. Never had a claim in my life up until now, and have worked through several different injuries in my career. They don’t seem to mind taking insurance money from our employers, but like all other insurance rackets, they don’t want to give back either. As I said, 2 different doctors, including their own doctor, assessed and approved the need for help. Try going for months, not being able to put your hand on your head or behind your back, or get a solid sleep for that matter. Being on here I assume you’re a hunter. Not much fun when you can’t lift your gun to your shoulder. Like I said before, typical government beauocrats. If you think a hard working Canadian citizen who needs some help is a waste of taxpayers money, maybe consider what our government does for immigrants to this country.

you probably need some sort of doctor visits and treatment

but that's disability insurance and most good places to work at give you that in your benefits

[jstubbs]

I currently work for the GoA and am involved with a project that is in collaboration with WCB. I'll poke around with some of the staff there and see what they have to say and if there are any fast routes to appealing/circumventing a denied claim like that.

[Half Pickereled]

Originally Posted by BlackHeart

Even worse than govt beauracrats......

The head of WCB gets an nice $200,000 bonus each year.
Senior staff get around $100,000.

That bonus is for NOT PAYING out claims.

Even the staff get bonuses for denying claims and for taking courses.

Talk about conflict of interest and hypocrisy.

Bonus shmonis..... how can the WCB, a non for profit government organization pay a salary to someone over 2x what the Prime Minister gets?

$876,000 $876,000 $876,000 $876,000 $876,000 $876,000

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/edmonton...ost-at-wcb/amp

[^v^Tinda wolf^v^]

It’s a kick in the pants they are being so unfair to you, especially after two different doctors diagnosis’s . I would rather die in pain and agony then use wcb for anything.

[ram crazy]

I've been there, was in a car accident at work and buggered up my back and numbness on one side of my body. Went for MRI and doctor found some issues. WCB didn't like what my doctor had to say so they sent me to one of there doctor's and he agreed with my doctor. Long story short after the 5th doctor they finally found a retired 85 year old surgeon he told them what they wanted to hear and was cut off. I still have back issues to this day. You just learn to get used to it. They sent me for carpal tunnel surgery though. On the opposite side I was have all my numbness, and guess what it didn't fix the numbness go figure!!

[trigger7mm]

Originally Posted by ram crazy

I've been there, was in a car accident at work and buggered up my back and numbness on one side of my body. Went for MRI and doctor found some issues. WCB didn't like what my doctor had to say so they sent me to one of there doctor's and he agreed with my doctor. Long story short after the 5th doctor they finally found a retired 85 year old surgeon he told them what they wanted to hear and was cut off. I still have back issues to this day. You just learn to get used to it. They sent me for carpal tunnel surgery though. On the opposite side I was have all my numbness, and guess what it didn't fix the numbness go figure!!

Sorry to hear about your plight. It didn’t take me long to figure out what a rigged deal this whole WCB game is. I wonder what these crooks would do if they were in the same position as several of us are. Who knows, maybe karma will catch up to them one day. On a side note, I’ve learned a lot about how some company safety supervisors operate too. Too worried about keeping their claims down to be concerned about the actual well bearing of their fellow employees. Always bugging you when you are on a claim, and you never hear from them when you aren’t.

[ganderblaster]

WCB just had someone die at the headquarters. Did they shut down the headquarters for an investigation?

[moosemad]

WCB has gone down hill over the last 15 years or so. We still pay into it all our lives but when you need it you have to jump thru hoops. When I supervised I was told it was cheaper to bring an employee back to work and pay him to do nothing than it was to make a lost time claim and increase the WCB rates for the claim.
Good news. While taking one of my annual hearing tests recently that failed every year the guy doing the testing told me to talk to WCB about the hearing loss. Six months later I have hearing aids and a life time supply of batteries etc. Can't replace my ears but it sure helps.
I'm sure our Prime Minister will make it better once he's done increasing old age pension payments.