Eye Injury

[Keeri]

What is the name of your state?My husband is having trouble with a worker's comp. claim and I hope someone can help. We live in Virginia and the injury occurred in May, 2003. His eye was burned at work and he has permanent vision loss and scarring on the cornea. His employer could not seem to provide information on the claims status so I began to intervene in November 2003. At that time I was informed by worker's comp.(hereafter WC) that they had not received the Claim for Benefits or medical records but that is now being taken care of. Last summer the insurance co., PMA Group, requested medical records and a letter from the doctor stating the percentage of vision loss. When I contacted PMA in November I was told WC was requesting a letter from the dr. clarifying the loss estimate and the process he used to come up with this number. Two months and many telephone calls later, WC informed PMA that the letter from the dr. was inadequate (his estimate was based on his professional opinion). WC said that a form existed that the dr. needs to fill out and he must base his estimate on the Snelling's chart. I spoke to my local WC office and was told that this form (which she could not locate and is not on WC website) is rarely used and the doctor usually just sends a letter stating his professional opinion.
Here are my concerns and questions:
1. If this Snelling's chart is used (my husband's eyesight is now 20/40), how can we be sure that scarring and other factors are taken into consideration when determining percentage of loss? Shouldn't they be?
2. The deadline for filing a claim (two years) is May, 2005. Is PMA and WC stalling to avoid paying this claim? How can I get this settled by then if it takes two months for each transaction between the dr. and PMA / WC?
3. This injury happened at work, medical records and the doctor's letter have been received, this is not a large claim, so why are we having so much trouble getting this settled?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank You!!
Karen