The claimant sought entitlement to an ADL assessment and orthopedic assessment. The insurer argued that the claimant was statute-barred from disputing the denials. Adjudicator Norris held that the claimant was not entitled to the ADL assessment, but was entitled to the cost of the orthopedic assessment plus interest. The claimant claimed to have not received denial letters from the insurer. The adjudicator held that the claimant was barred from adjudicating the ADL assessment as the claimant received an unequivocal denial on June 4, 2015, over 2 years before the LAT Application. However, the adjudicator held that there was no clear and unequivocal denial of the orthopedic assessment. The first “denial” letter noted that the insurer would not fund the treatment plan “at this time” and a second letter only referenced the assessment plans by HCAI number, which the adjudicator found made it too difficult for the claimant to determine which plans were in dispute. The claimant incurred the cost of the disputed orthopedic plan after the 10th business day after the plan was proposed and prior to receipt of a clear and unequivocal denial. The insurer argued that the claimant was barred per section 55 from adjudicating entitlement to the orthopedic assessment for failure to attend a section 44 IE. The adjudicator held that the claimant was not barred as the insurer requested an assessment more often than reasonably necessary. The claimant attended a section 44 orthopedic assessment, but the insurer had failed to have the assessor assess the claimant’s entitlement to the disputed orthopedic assessment. Adjudicator Norris held that it was unreasonable to subject the claimant to another in-person assessment so soon after the first assessment simply because the insurer failed to address the issue during the previous IE.
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