Employee Finds Out Employer Has No Workman's Comp Insurrance After An Injury

Have you ever had a day that just sucked worse tha other days and just steadily got worse as the days dragged on. Welcome to Murphy's Law! A driver of a local trucking company here in Waterloo, IA received a lovely surprize after blowing his knee out at work. He tried everything from elevation to ice and nothing helped. His employer sent him to have it xrayed. Now he's at the occupational health clinic at the hospital and they tell him he needs surgery. Oh joy, his day just couldn't get any better. They tell him it needs to have an MRI to see just how exstensive the damage is and after they talk to the insurance company they will call him with an appointment. a week wears thin as does his patience. Now he finds out that there is some kind of problem with the insurance. Opps his boss forgot to make the payment.

"Can you put it on your homeowner's insurance?" He is asked. He refuses but doesn't tell his wife what was said at first. Another week goes by and he is feeling horrible and his knee is throbbing and swollen. His wife calls to find out what the problemis and his boss tells her that the insurance is in place and they should get him fixed up pretty soon. They had to take care of the lapse in coverage. Days go by and she hears nothing. The wife is getting angry and calls the occupational health clinic to find out that there is no workman's compensation insurance. It wasn't a lapse in coverage but a problem of no insurance for the past six months. The hospital states that since he is employed bya subcontractor to a larger trucking company the larger company should pick up the insurance. She calls the bigger trucking company and hits the wall. They figure it is not their problem.

Time to get an attorney. They have a case but in the mean time no surgeon will touch his knee without a payment plan in force. The attorney has them apply for the Iowa Care Health Plan through the State of Iowa's Department of Human Services. They get a first hand taste of being treated like they do not matter. The worker is rude and talks down to them. It is humilating. It takes a month to get accepted. Now his knee has been in a brace for nearly two months and with no insurance he not only doesn't have insurance for medical but he also has no income. The company he works for is not willing to help and told DHS that they feel it wasn't a work related injury and any time he wants to return to work his job is waiting for him.

Yeah, he is going to crawl up into a semi tractor with his knee in a brace. The injury happened in July and it is September and he is still in a brace waiting to have an MRI and surgery. His income is gone, his bank account has eleven dollars left and he has had to swollow his pride and get food using foodstamps and the local food bank. He has no income coming in and just learned that to finally get the MRI and surgery he will have to go to Iowa City, IA which means having to come up with gas money some how. . His wife in july just had a battle with ovarian cancer and ended up having a total hysterectomy. When it rans it pours!