What comes to mind when you hear “workers’ compensation”? You might think of employer payments that cover your medical expenses to treat a work-related injury or illness. But there’s more to workers’ compensation than just medical benefits.
Coverage of workers’ compensation
In Connecticut, workers’ compensation can provide cover for the following expenses if they’re related to an injury or illness sustained at work:
- Medical treatment
- Ongoing care, such as medication or physical therapy
- Wage replacement
- Funeral costs
But workers’ compensation can also provide other benefits that supplement an employee’s recovery. They include:
- Disability benefits: If a worker’s work-related injury or illness leaves them permanently or temporarily disabled, they can receive disability benefits for a maximum of 52 weeks.
- Travel reimbursement: Workers who use their automobile to visit their health care provider can receive coverage for their gas expenses.
- Job retraining: Workers’ compensation can cover retraining if a worker’s condition prevents them from performing their current job. This allows the worker to take a different role in the same company.
- Relapse benefits: Workers’ compensation can cover treatment if a worker’s medical condition relapses.
- 308a benefits: Workers with a partial permanent injury may claim up to 75% of their wages before their work-related injury or illness.
To claim these benefits, workers must first report their injury or illness to their employer. Their employer must then notify the injury or illness to its insurer. Once the claim is approved, the employer and the insurer have 28 days to cover the claim.
But claims don’t always get fully approved. A claims administrator might turn down the claim because they believe the employee’s injury or illness resulted from a nonwork source. Or the employer might request its employee to settle for a lower payment or fewer benefits than initially requested.
Workers whose claims run into such obstacles could seek legal guidance. An attorney with workers’ comp law experience can help workers file their claims, realize their compensation options, ensure their employers comply with the law and even negotiate with the employer and insurer for proper benefits coverage.
