Are All My Bills Covered By Workers’ Compensation?

When you have been injured on the job, you are entitled to have your bills covered by workers’ compensation coverage in most cases. However, it is easy for the average person to get confused about just exactly what will be covered, between medical bills and other possible amounts. Contacting an attorney well versed in workers’ compensation law can help ensure that you receive what you are entitled to by law.

Bills Stemming From On-The-Job Injury

Generally speaking, workers’ compensation will cover all the reasonable bills that would be covered in the event of an automobile crash or similar accident. This includes medical bills, but contrary to popular belief, can include much more if your injury is serious and requires recovery time. Additional expenses that workers’ compensation can sometimes cover include lost wages, medical equipment like wheelchairs or crutches, and prescriptions, among others.

It may sound self-evident, but the specific nature of your injury will determine your level of benefits. If your injury is such that you can go back to work the next day, you obviously do not need income replacement, because no income was lost. This can, however, be a bone of contention in some cases, because with certain injuries, such as with wrist or knee damage, it can be hard to accurately assess how much of the injury is due to work and how much may be due to a preexisting condition. The work injury must be the major contributing cause of your harm, or you cannot receive benefits.

Know Your Rights

Assuming that your work injury is more than 50 percent responsible for the harm you have suffered, you are generally able to receive workers’ compensation benefits so that your medical bills can be paid. However, this does not apply if your injury is held to be self-inflicted, either intentionally or unwittingly. In other words, you may not receive workers’ compensation benefits if you intentionally injured yourself, but you will also almost certainly be denied if your own negligence or intoxication was the cause of the accident.

Conversely, if you are injured on the job and your employer either refuses to compensate you, or lacks workers’ compensation insurance to begin with, you may have the right to sue. Operating without workers’ compensation insurance when they are required to have it is particularly egregious; the business will be issued a Stop-Work order and prohibited from operating until the right insurance coverage is obtained. If they continue to operate or try to make their employees work, they can be on the proverbial hook for felony charges.

Contact An Orlando Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If you are hurt on the job, you deserve workers’ compensation benefits so that your bills can be paid and you can focus on recovery. The Orlando workers’ compensation lawyers at the Hornsby Law Group are ready and willing to try and assist you in your case – getting fair outcomes for injured people is our highest priority. Call our offices today to schedule a consultation.

Resource:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0440/Sections/0440.09.html

https://www.hornsbylawgroup.com/maximum-medical-improvement-in-workers-compensation-cases/