Alaska Fishermen's Fund appeals council to decide denied injury claims Oct. 14

Commercial fishermen whose medical claims the state turned down will find out on Oct. 14 whether that stands. The council that hears those appeals meets that morning, and it starts in executive session, closed to the public, to go through the claims the fund's administrator declined and the ones asking for more money or more time than the rules allow.

The Alaska Commercial Fishermen's Fund covers transportation, medical care, hospitalization, prescriptions and therapy for licensed commercial fishermen hurt or made sick by work directly tied to fishing. An administrator approves claims in the first instance. Anything he does not approve goes to the council, whose decision is final.

How much a fisherman can get depends on which document you read. State law sets $2,500 for any one injury, and the claim form says so in capital letters, adding that more may be approved for compelling reasons. The Labor Department describes the ceiling as $10,000, and says benefits for a single injury generally cannot exceed that or run more than a year past the first allowance. Getting past the lower number requires a written justification and a separate questionnaire.

The fund does not pay for everything. Awards are barred when the injury was not directly connected to fishing, when a fisherman intended to hurt himself or someone else, or when he was drunk or on drugs that were not prescribed. Treatment has to start within 120 days of the injury, and the application within a year of that treatment. Chronic problems are often excluded on the grounds that fishing aggravated them rather than caused them.

A fisherman who is denied has 15 days to ask for reconsideration and 30 days from the official notice to appeal.

The notice does not say how many claims are pending.