What Types of Medical Treatment are Covered by Workers' Comp?

A large number of workers suffer from work-related injuries every year. However, not all forms of injuries are covered under the worker’s comp benefits and to receive compensation, states require workers to follow certain procedural rules in order to receive benefits.

You cannot just walk into the building, bang your fist on the table, and say give me my money! You need more tact than that and you need to follow the procedures.

Treat your injuries promptly

If you are injured at the workplace, under no circumstances must you delay treatment. If you do not seek immediate treatment workers’ compensation lawyers warn us that insurance companies may deny your claim arguing that the injury was unrelated to the workplace or that you were never really injured. If you can play three on three basketball then you are probably not injured. But if you cannot play basketball anymore and you wish you could then you probably have a claim if you were injured on the job and you did everything you could to not becoming injured.

The latter point means you were wearing industrial glasses, a helmet, work gloves, had the training, the equipment was maintained properly and it was your job to do that, and so on.

Consult a state-approved physician

You must also be aware if you are required to consult a state-approved doctor in order to claim workers’ comp benefits. The insurance company may reject your claim if you have not consulted a state-approved physician. This does not mean that you cannot seek emergency treatment. You can visit an emergency room as soon as an injury happened but once your condition improves you must visit an approved physician according to state laws.

Types of medical expenses covered by worker’s compensation

Worker’s compensation attorneys know that diagnostic tests and treatments recommended by doctors can be recovered. These include diagnostic tests such as blood picture reports, MRIs, cat scans, USGs, and x-rays. After the diagnosis, the medical bills for the medication, doctor’s consultation, hospitalization, and surgeries are also covered. Even the cost of adaptive devices such as prosthetics and wheelchairs too can be claimed in addition to transportation costs incurred for visits to the doctor or hospital.

Physical rehabilitation and vocational rehabilitation claims

Workers’ compensation lawyers suggest that expenses for physical rehabilitation are also paid by workers’ compensation insurance. If a worker needs physiotherapy, massage, or chiropractic intervention the bills will be covered by the insurance. Have you seen the movie Battleship?

However, there is cap on the number of sessions that you can avail of according to state laws. For example, in California a worker can have 24 sessions of physiotherapy, chiropractic therapy and occupational therapy respectively. This is what Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales was going through in the movie Battleship (though he was in the army, not the navy – just saying, no big deal) and you can infer he was not too happy with it. Though most people would have been happy hanging out with Brooklyn Decker or someone who looked like that.  

You can also receive monetary benefits if you have to attend vocational rehabilitation after an injury. This happens when an injury prevents a worker from continuing to work in the same position held prior to the workplace accident. He/she is entitled to receive vocational training in order to pursue an alternate line of work. 

Treatments that are not covered

For the most part, you will not be entitled to be reimbursed for experimental treatments and drugs. However, the laws do not prohibit you from participating in trials where costs are covered by the establishment conducting the experiment.

In many states treatments like acupuncture are not recognized. However, California recognizes acupuncture as a reimbursable treatment but laws like this mean insurance costs are higher and there is less jobs. It must also be remembered that if you have availed of treatments that are not recommended by the doctor then you cannot claim compensation for those treatments. Gambling in Vegas is not treatment!

If you have been injured at the workplace and wish to file a claim it is always judicious to notify a workers’ compensation lawyer from your area. Claims involve a lot of paperwork which if not done properly could lead to your workers’ comp claim being denied. Denials by insurers are not rare and your legal representative will take appropriate steps to get the appeals process started.

A Scenario

You accidently fell off the truck step when you were stepping out of your truck. You fell three feet but your wrist and upper body actually fell 8 feet onto the cement. Your wrist is broken and you sprained an elbow. You cannot work for months. But does that mean the bills are going to stop coming in? Does that mean your children do not need a new pair of shoes to play soccer with? No it does not! You need to contact us, you need to click right here: Workers-Comp.USAttorneys. You need and should qualify for worker’s comp.