The employee is entitled to receive all medical treatment and care for his work injury that are reasonably required and appear likely to effect a cure, give relief, or restore the employee to suitable employment. This includes medical services like doctors’ appointments, diagnostic testing, physical therapy, medications, surgeries, prosthetics and aids, psychological counseling nursing or attendant care if necessary, transportation to the doctor and even language interpretation if the employee is not fluent in English. If the work accident took place on or before June 30, 2013, these medical benefits are available for life. If the injury took place on or after July 1, 2013, the employee is entitled to medical benefits for up to 400 weeks from the date of injury, unless the claim is designated as catastrophic.
Generally speaking, there are three benefits to which an employee is entitled: (1) medical care for the work injury; (2) income benefits to replace the wages lost while unable to work; and (3) compensation for any permanent partial impairment as a result of the injury.
You have 30 days in which to report an injury on the job. There is no requirement in the law to report an injury in writing, and you may do so verbally. However, unless your employer takes an action that indicates knowledge of the injury — for instance, sending you to a clinic, hospital or doctor within those 30 days — you may have a problem proving that you reported the injury verbally to your supervisor or human resources department within those 30 days. For instance, a worker may injure her back and think it is just a sprain, so she does not initially report her injury. Instead, she chooses to take a “wait and see” approach. Five weeks later, her pain increases and she decides to report her injury and ask for medical treatment. The claim may be barred.