Workers Comp Lawyers That Care About Injured Workers and Their Family
"I trust them because they know what injured workers are going through and they know how to get things done"
What Does a Workmans Comp Lawyer Do?
Experienced Lawyers Help Injured Workers Get Treatment and Money
A good workers comp lawyer will help injured workers obtain all the benefits the insurance company doesn't want to pay for. The most important thing is finding a good doctor, because all benefits have to come from a doctor, The doctor's request has to be done correctly, or it doesn't count in work comp, so the doctor is crucial.
The insurance wants to keep injured workers with their doctors at places like Concentra because they have control over those doctors. Since every benefit and/or medical treatment must come from a doctor, the insurance keeps a lot of power over the claim through the doctors.
Fortunately, every injured worker has the right to switch doctors, and by doing so an injured worker will have better medical care and greater access to benefits available in the workers comp process. That is why insurance companies don't like to tell workers about many benefits available and how to switch doctors. They often will make it hard to switch doctors, but it can be done. We usually have to go to court to get doctors switched. (Read below for more info about how to get work comp benefits)
How Does the Process Work?
If a worker is injured the employer should turn over handling of the claim to their insurance company. Unfortunately, many times an employer does not want their insurance to know about the injury and they don't provide an injured worker with a claim form or send them to a doctor. In that case a workers compensation lawyer will start the claim by filling out the claim form and sending it to the insurance company.
Once the claim is started the insurance is responsible for providing medical treatment and money if the worker is unable to work. However, they only have to provide treatment and money if the injury is caused by work, and the insurance does get time to investigate the claim to see if it was caused by work. They have 90 days to investigate, and that delay can be very difficult for an injured worker in need of financial assistance. (Read more about the 'Delay Process' below)
Within 90 days, the insurance will either accept or deny the claim. Assuming a claim is accepted, there are a number of work comp benefits available, but they must be set up and recommended through a doctor and it must be done according to legal requirements, so it is very important to have a knowledgeable work comp doctor that cares more about injured workers than the insurance company. The insurance wants to schedule workers with their doctor friends at places like Concentra or Kaiser on the Job. Those places will send workers back to work making it difficult for injured workers to get time off work to heal. Many times these doctors say workers were not really injured on the job and not eligible for money.
If the claim is denied the insurance company won't provide any benefits, and it will be necessary to fight for everything. Read our blog below about Denied Cases to get more info: My Claim is Denied. What Does That Mean and What Happens Next? (workerscomplawyer-pc.com)
The 90-day delay process can create major problems for injured workers that are stuck on delay. The insurance company should provide medical treatment while making the decision, but they will keep workers with their doctors that are not very helpful. If they are delaying the case, the insurance company should send a delay letter. You can read more about the delay process here: https://workers-compensation-lawyer-los-angeles.com/f/what-is-a-delay-letter-in-workers-compensation
Even if the insurance company accepts the claim and admits they have to provide benefits, they have a number of tactics to limit those benefits so they can save money. It is important to know that pursuant to the Labor Code, a worker has the right to anything necessary to "cure or relieve" the effects of a work injury. This includes many kinds of benefits.
Here are a few common benefits available to injured workers:
- - time off of work
- - money to replace wages
- - lighter work duties
- - free medical care
- - reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses
- - massage treatment
- - chiropractic treatment
- - Orthopedic treatment
- - surgery
- - physical therapy
- - acupuncture
- - paid mileage for travel to appointments
- - braces
- - in home care
- - money for skills training
- - computers
- - money for damage done to the body
Can I get paid for your mileage? If you have a claim now and have been driving to your appointments, you can get 65 cents per mile to help pay the cost of driving to your medical appointments. Injured workers need to fill out the proper form. You can get the form here: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/forms-mileage.html
Changing Workers Comp Doctors
If you have been injured at work then your employer should have sent you to a doctor. The problem is that the doctors that treat injured workers are paid by the insurance company so they work for the insurance company. If you are getting treatment at Concentra, Health First, Pro Active, Immediate Medical or even Kaiser, then you really should change doctors. The work comp insurance probably won't help injured workers do that because they control treatment. A good workmans comp attorney will have the experience and knowledge to know the good doctors in the network, and also how to go to court to force the insurance company to transfer care. We usually have to take the insurance to court to switch our clients to a good work comp doctor. Feel free to give us a call if you want to change doctors for your work injury.
Read about changing doctors: Can I Change Doctors in Workers Compensation? (workerscomplawyer-pc.com)
Workers Compensation Benefits and Money
There are two basic types of workmans comp benefits available to injured workers, money and medical treatment. There are different types of payments that are made in workers compensation, but the two main types of payments are Temporary Disability benefits and Permanent Disability benefits. We will explain each below.
Temporary Disability benefits are meant to replace wages while an injured worker is recovering from an injury or surgery. These benefits are paid at 66% percent of gross wages. Taxes are not taken out so it should come close to replacing wages a worker would receive on a regular paycheck.
Permanent Disability benefits are paid by the workers compensation insurance company depending on how much damage is done to the body. This won't be known until the injured workers has recovered from the injury and then the level of money owed can be calculated.
For a more about workmans comp read here: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/injuredWorker.htm
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Call To Find Out How We Can Help You With Your Workers Compensation Claim
At Workers Comp Lawyer, Professional Corporation, we only get paid if we get our clients a settlement. We are paid 15% of the final settlement. We always increase the settlement amount because we know how the insurance companies hide money and benefits from injured workers.
At Workers Comp Lawyer, Professional Corporation, we have the experience and knowledge to beat the insurance companies and get the most workmans comp benefits possible for our clients.
We are located in Bellflower and know the doctors around Norwalk, Cerritos, Long Beach and Paramount areas. Call Workers Comp Lawyer today and find out how we can help. (562) 850-1818