Moak Law - March 2020

WhosePicksWill GoAll theWay?

March Madness Fun for the Whole Family

One of the greatest things about March Madness is that you don’t have to be a huge college basketball fan to get in on the fun. Kids of all ages can fill out brackets — or have a parent fill one out for them — and watch their picks duke it out on the court. While healthy competition among family members can be fun all on its own, check out the following tips if you’re looking to go the extra mile and reap as much fun from March Madness as you can. Turn each game into an event. Not every kid may like watching basketball, but if they fill out a bracket, then they might gain at least a passing interest in who will win each game. To elevate their interest, turn each March Madness matchup into a little party. It doesn’t have to be fancy; make fun snacks to eat while you watch or bet pieces of candy on who will have the most points to create great family bonding opportunities. Reward the winners with prizes. Offer prizes to each round winner as well as the overall bracket winner to get the whole payout. This is why you only want to work with a doctor who has your best interests at heart. In Arizona, your employer is allowed to select a doctor of their choice for the first nonemergency exam. So long as your employer is not self-insured, you have the right to choose your own doctor after that initial exam, so find someone you can trust. Keep in mind, if you see your employer’s chosen doctor for more than one visit, they will automatically become your permanent doctor for all visits related to your workplace injury. Whether you are seeing your own doctor or the doctor your employer chose, it is possible to change providers while receiving care for an on-the-job injury. You must first get permission from your employer’s workers’ comp insurer. If the insurer refuses your request, you can appeal to the Industrial Commission of Arizona. These steps can be complicated, so it’s important to work with

family involved. Small prize ideas for each round can include a homemade dinner of the winner’s choice, a week’s supply of their favorite snack, or a coupon for getting out of a chore. Whoever wins the whole tournament (or makes it the furthest with their bracket) deserves a bigger reward. Offer them the chance to see a movie of their choice in theaters or to eat a meal at their favorite restaurant. Create a learning opportunity. Learning math or geography might not sound like your child’s idea of fun, but it can be when they learn it through the lens of March Madness. See if your kids would be interested in understanding the inner workings of the ranking system or studying where some of the qualifying colleges are located on a map of the United States. They may find it so interesting that they don’t even realize they’re learning valuable skills.

Sabotaged From the Inside

Can You Trust Your Workers’ Comp Doctor?

If you’re injured while on the job, it’s crucial that you file a workers’ compensation claim and see a doctor right away. The sooner you act, the better your outcome may be. By seeing a doctor, you should be able to get an accurate assessment of your injuries and recovery time. This information will be important to your case. However, if you inadvertently go to the wrong doctor, your case could be sabotaged from the inside. In a perfect world, your doctor would always have your best interests at heart. They would want you to receive all the treatment you need, regardless of the cost to the insurance company. But this is not always the case. Some doctors have incentive to underreport the severity of your injuries if they are paid by your employer or by their workers’ comp insurer. Because workers’ comp will only pay for what your doctor deems “medically necessary,” having doctors in their pocket can greatly reduce the insurance company’s

an experienced workers’ comp attorney, like those on the team at The Moak Law Firm. They can help you find the right doctor who will put your well-being first.

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