What Types of Expenses Are Covered By Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

As you probably already know if you have been injured on-the-job, workers’ compensation is a type of insurance that pays benefits to you if you are injured or fall ill in your line of work. However, you may not know the exact things that workers’ compensation covers. Because of this, you may wonder what will be covered by the insurance and what you will have to pay for out of your own pocket, piling on the stress. Find out more about what it covers.

Lost Wages

If you have been injured in the workplace, you are probably unable to work. In many states, this means that you will be entitled to lost wages when you are unable to work. Many states have workers’ compensation insurance coverage that will cover an injured worker up to 66% of his normal weekly wages. You can take, for example, the state of New York. In New York, if you become totally or partially disabled and you cannot return to work for more than seven days, you will receive a payment for lost wages based on your weekly pay for the previous year. This means that, if you made $600.00 weekly the previous year and you are now 100% disabled, you would receive $400.00 per week.

However, you should keep in mind that the length of time for receiving these payments is determined by the type of injury as well as the extent of the medical treatment required. It varies from state to state; however, in California as an example, a worker can receive wage compensation for up to 204 weeks but this depends solely on the type of injury (Calisi).

Medical Care/Treatments

You may wonder how you will receive appropriate medical care when you have become injured. The fact of the matter is, worker’s compensation covers hospital and medical expenses that are used for identifying and treating your injury or illness. This includes things like doctor’s visits, medication, and even surgeries. If you need equipment like a wheelchair or crutches, those are usually covered as well. You will need to find out if your employer is supposed to choose your health care provider or if you can choose them yourself.

On top of that, you may qualify for necessary rehabilitation as well. A popular example of this is physical therapy, which helps you recover from your injury. You may also receive care and training to help you regain skills and abilities that are important for returning to work. These benefits may pay for evaluations, retraining, tuition, and more for the future of your work life.

Disability

Disability benefits will typically compensate you for wages that are lost while you cannot work. Here are some of the disability categories:

Temporary Total Disability: You are unable to work for a period of time. Some day, you will be able to work again, but until then, you receive this necessary disability.
Temporary Partial Disability: This disability prevents you from doing some of the duties of your job for a certain amount of time. One day, you may be able to return to that line of work.
Permanent Total Disability: You will never be able to return to the same job.
Permanent Partial Disability: Damage is permanent but you are only partially impaired from completing your work.

Death Benefits

In the most unfortunate work-related accidents, a fatality may have occurred. If this is the case, people who were related to the deceased worker may be able to receive death benefits. This could include funeral and burial benefits and compensation for dependents. This will depend on the state the worker resided in and how you are related to the deceased worker (DelPo).

If you or a loved one has been injured in the workplace and are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits, you may wonder what these benefits will cover. You may also wonder how they will help you get your life back on track. Now you can find out more by contacting an attorney with necessary workers’ compensation experience. Call Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi today for more information.

Works Cited

Judge Anthony P. Calisi. Injury Claim Coach, 2015. Web. Accessed February 1, 2016. http://www.injuryclaimcoach.com/workers-comp-insurance.html

Amy DelPo. Nolo, 2015. Web. Accessed February 1, 2016. http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/types-of-workers-compensation-benefits-32962.html