Author: Kristen Stumpo

Connecticut / Disability Benefits / Medical Marijuana

Increasing Rights: Osterlund Benefits for the Undocumented Individual & Medical Marijuana Benefits

The Connecticut workers’ compensation system is designed to assist the injured worker when claiming a valid and compensable injury. Over the years, the rights of the injured worker have been expanded, amended, and challenged. Recently, two Connecticut Review Board (CRB) decisions increased those rights once again.

Medical marijuana use has been legalized in several states; however, it is not federally legalized, which causes various issues. In Connecticut, recreational marijuana use is still illegal, while medical marijuana for certain conditions (i.e., chronic back pain, anxiety, etc.) …

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Connecticut / permanent partial disability / Temporary Total Disability (TTD)

Undocumented Immigrants Lose Out on Benefits

Under the Connecticut workers’ compensation statutes (codified under Title 31), immigrants who are not U.S. citizens enjoy many, but not all, of the same rights as U.S. citizens. The workers’ compensation system affords medical and indemnity benefits to eligible claimants. Within the indemnity category, there are lost time benefits, permanency benefits, and earning impairment benefits. Particularly, this eligibility hinges on whether an individual is documented and can legally work in the United States.

Immigrants that lack citizenship or proper documentation are still eligible for medical …

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Connecticut / Disability Benefits

Construction Sites, Injured Contractors & Workers’ Compensation

In Connecticut, the “traditional” rules of workers’ compensation are relatively well established. A restaurant employee cuts his finger preparing food on shift; a home health aide pulls a muscle in her back while moving a patient on shift; a delivery truck driver gets into a motor vehicle accident while delivering to a customer. But what if you are a contractor or subcontractor on a job/site and get injured? Do you know who your direct employer is? Is there workers’ compensation coverage? For the most part, …

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Connecticut / Medical Expenses

2019 Mileage Rates Reach Second Highest in 20 Years

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued its annual mileage rates for 2019. This year, the mileage rate has increased from 54 cents per mile to 58 cents per mile, which reflects a 6.42 percent increase from 2018. A review of the mileage rates from 1997 to present show rates as low as 31 cents (1999) and as high as 58 cents (July to December 2008). The rate has only exceeded the current 58 cents on one occasion, and it was only a temporary, mid-year …

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Connecticut / General

2019 Mileage Rates Reach Second Highest in Twenty Years

Every year the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues the annual mileage rates, and like clockwork, the IRS has released the updated rates for 2019. This year the mileage rate has increased from 54.5 cents per mile to 58 cents per mile, which reflects a 6.42 percent increase from 2018. A review of the mileage rates from 1997 to present show rates as low as 31 cents (1999) and as high as 58.5 center (July to December 2008). The rate has only exceeded the 58 …

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