Disability Benefits Workers Compensation Lawyer PA
Protecting Your Right to Workers' Comp Disability Benefits
It isn't always easy to tell in the early stages of a workers' compensation claim whether you'll run into problems later on. Most employers and their insurers are willing to pay lost wages benefits for a few months, but if their physicians - whom you're stuck with for the first 90 days after an injury - decide that you're not badly hurt enough to justify continued benefits, you can expect to receive a notice of termination, a notice of independent medical examination (IME) or other action intended to stop or limit your benefits.
Contact an experienced workers' compensation attorney at Huber & Palsir in Philadelphia if it looks like you'll have to choose between returning to work before you're ready and accepting reduced or terminated disability benefits. As co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Workers' Compensation Section, Bob Huber has a statewide reputation for excellence in client service and a thorough understanding of the law in this demanding field.
Call Toll Free at (877) 412-5538 for Advice About Your Pennsylvania Workers' Comp Rights
A notice of termination or suspension of benefits is usually the first step in the attempt to limit an employer or insurance company's exposure on your disability benefits claim. You might be asked to attend an independent medical examination (IME), where the unofficial goal is to clear you for returning to work.
We know how to monitor your diagnosis and treatment to help protect you from the risk that you'll be required to go back to work before you've made a full recovery.After the first 90 days, we can get a second opinion about your physical condition. For example, we might find that what was originally diagnosed as a strain or sprain is actually a herniated disc that will require surgery and a long period of recovery.
Our attorneys can accompany you to your IME and make sure that all of your medical records are taken into consideration, not just the observations of the workers' comp doctor.
We Can Protect Your Interests in an Impairment Rating Examination
Another important stage of a workers' comp case comes up at the impairment rating examination (IRE). Depending on the results of the IME, a workers' compensation insurer will sooner or later schedule the IRE in order to put a limit on its exposure. Here, the point is not to diagnose an injury or medical condition, but to determine a percentage of whole-body impairment.
If your impairment rating is less than 50 percent, your disability will be partial, and your benefits will be capped at 500 weeks. Any rating over 50 percent will be regarded as a total disability, with benefits payable indefinitely until you're able to return to work or perform another available job.
Our goal is to make sure that you're not cleared to work before you've fully recovered from your injury. To learn how our skill with medical evidence and experience with workers' compensation can help protect your interests, contact a lawyer at Huber & Palsir for a free consultation.
