ACC -do you wonder why they always need more money !!??

[peanuteater]

Around September last year, started having grief from my right hand/arm caused by repetitive movements at place of work, this got worse over the next couple of months, to the stage that was waking up at night etc. so thought id better notify place of employment, which requested that i see a docter to asses the condition , which i dutifully did in december.
Docter wrote a refferrel to physio, ( which i attended once, as problem started to improve quickly with job rotation ) and notified place of employment that my work tasks job should be rotated untill xmas,and advised that it was an ulner nerve problem (purely from repetive tasks, and that with the job rotation and 3 weeks off at xmas , it would come right by itself,) and placed this as an ACC claim-(work related injury) and should cause no further ongoing problems, just before xmas break, had to return to docter-and was given FULL clearance for normal duties, which so far, its been fine !!

NOW THE DUMB BIT WITH ACC STARTS-
this week, ACC informed me by mail that they want to send me to Auckland to have "nerve conduction studies" for "nerve conduction tests performed by a non contracted Neurolist" and that ACC "WILL PAY THE FULL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STUDY" -I live 300 ks away from Auckland by the way !!!! so i rang this person at acc, and told her that i had a full clearance from docter, and that i wasnt really interested in taking time off work to go to Auckland (which i havent had to at all for this problem )
The net result was that if i didnt do this, they are going to decline my claim,but she verbally said that they would pay for all flights, other costs etc etc to , so i POLITELY informed her that the total costs to cover this so far is
docter=app. $60
physio=app $55
and restated that i wasnt interested in all that hassle, what with the costs involved which i imagine would be in excess off $4-500 ( return flights to auckland, transport to and from specialist, and off course, his fees and a day of work) and the fact that now seem to have no problems.
net result,im out of pocket for around $115 which the stupid barstards should just pay, or else incur extra costs on the system- yeah, i know, should have taken it all, but really, where the hell is the common sense in this sort of system? food for thought when the system gets tied up in bullshit ....

[James Deuce]

Be REALLY careful dude. Your Ulnar nerves are an important part of your arm function. In 1997 I had to have a transposition of the ulnar nerve in my right arm because I'd taken your approach. My other career as a semi-professional drummer and music educator ended right there. I've lost fine motor control in the outside two fingers of my right hand, I'm in constant pain (from "on fire" pain down to a dull ache), and the muscles of my right arm are slowly atrophying because of a lack of nerve conduction. They don't know they're being used, so they slowly wither.

ACC are doing the right thing. By the sound of it, you're young and invulnerable. My operation and subsequent rehabilitation cost me around $6k over 12 months.

You're doing yourself a huge disservice if you don't take them up on this offer.

Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth. I pay ACC levies so people like you get the care they deserve and need, and it pains me to see the offer sneered at.

[peanuteater]

Thanks for the input Jim2, app it ! , didnt realize that it was possibly more serious with the long term repercussions im not that 'young and invulnerable"- in forties , person at acc did add that if it came on again in future, that it would be treated as a "new injury", but that as far as the sequence to date is, consider it closed, basicly.

[yungatart]

Yeah, what Jim2 says..
On the other hand, I have had to fight tooth and nail to get any home help since my accident. (I have my left leg and right arm in plaster.)
ACC seem to think that as Mstrs works from home, and I have a teenage son (like he is any use -sheesh!), that I have no need of help - the boys can do it all...as well as housework and cooking, they are also expected to help me with showering and work a 10 hour day.
Good Lord, I can't even get my own blardy breakfast!

[LXS]

ACC were obviously involved with my bike accident last year, frustating part was trying to get hold of the on the phone, whats the point of voicemail if it's never checked?
To me it seems like the cases were prioritised according to your injury, ie you'd have to have no arms & no legs to get any service

[Wasp]

holy crap, I turn laptop screws all day..... any help/info I can get from someone?

[*sic]

just a note, when your claim is under investigation from late lodgements or delayed incapacity claims, or a gradual process work related injury claim like yours was peanuteater, until the date when ACC makes its decision any assitance / costs incured to that date via prescriptions, doctor visits / physio treatments are paid for. only after the claim is declined will any assistance cease.

the best thing to do in your case is to do the study as if your claim is declined now and at a later date you need surgery and it comes out that its in relation to this injury, you will have to foot the bill.

so the best thing to do in every circumstance of accidents is to lodge the claim, even if you dont think its really anything, because at a later date if it does turn out to be a major contribution to an injury down the track, your claim / payments / surgery will have a better chance of being accepted faster as ACC have a full history to look back on.

thanks : )

[Beemer]

And yet when I had a similar injury, after some physio and no paid time off work (I'm self-employed so had to take it easy for a while), ACC sent me to see a specialist of theirs in Palmerston North. He had been flown up from Wellington to see me... mmn, at their expense, plus they paid for me to get there from Levin. He checked me over, asked how the injury had happened (doh, I'm a journalist, I guess it was from doing too much typing...) and then I duly got a letter saying it was a gradual injury and therefore not covered. I'm still having trouble with it now, a year later. It's not like I was asking for much, just some physio. I could pinpoint when the injury happened - a period when I was doing heaps of extra work - yet they claimed it wasn't from an accident (of course it wasn't, it was from repetitive strain over a short period of time!) so therefore wasn't covered. And how much do I pay each year in ACC premiums? And how much benefit do I get? Sweet FA.

[Laava]

Be prepared to LIE people because with gov depts, sometimes it's quicker and easier.

[riffer]

holy crap, I turn laptop screws all day..... any help/info I can get from someone?

How about some advice. Get a motorised screwdriver.

[Wasp]

yea i thought about that but it'd have to be bloody quick and really low torque - the only ones i've seen are slow and high torque

plus all the other techs would laugh at me

my hands started hurting alot before xmas, its gone away now because of the break i had but i can feel it slowly returning so im trying not to over extend

[Grahameeboy]

ACC is good and bad I guess.
They don't always seem to be flexible.
If you fall over and hurt your self you can go to a physio and get the subsidy.
But when I had a knee operation I then had to go to my GP first to get a referral..........dumb eh.
When I chopped the end of my thumb off cutting food I got an ACC letter asking me if there was anything else I needed, did I need home help etc.....I only went to the after hours cause it would not stop bleeding.

Overall it has to be a good thing like Jim2 says I have to fight for Daughter's disability which is not under ACC of course but at end of day I pay ACC levies which gives provides almost hassle free assistant and I also pay taxes and I get hassle with disability issues and some idiot can drive drunk hit a tree.....well you know what I am gonna say next.

[T.I.E]

dam they are the best, sad thing is i feel great, wanna go back to work full time again as im bored and bike less, and ACC wont let me so to speak.
but the holiday has been fun all paid for.
if they are offering to get ya fixed or looked at do it. in the long run its gonna work out better.

[Macktheknife]

As crazy as it might sound now, take the nerve study, because if you get it early then the damage will be significantly less.

[crashe]

Do the nerve study........
Heck you are getting a FREE trip to Auckland all expenses paid for.

You can also get to meet a few KBers as well......... with a night out on the town.




I am now back on the bandwagon with ACC re my knee.......
thought it was going all ok.... but no its not....
I got numbness over my knee cap now and very sore to walk on...struggling to walk up a flight of stairs.
So back I go to see the knee specialist...... and Im having a MRI done on my knee next week. This is costing $800 on ACC to see what the hell is going on, as my knee specialist thinks he may have 'missed' something when I was seeing him after the accident.

Accident 16th Feb 2006.......... still on going treatment in 2007.