In the event that you may need to file a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim due to an injury you suffered while at work, you may find yourself in a situation where there are some disputes over the proper treatment of your injuries. Even if you have followed all of the proper steps to file your claim and you’ve notified all of the right people to make sure your claim goes through, you are not out of the woods yet on your treatment plan.
The claims process will start when you become injured at work and then you report it to your direct supervisor. This is a critical first step in the process so your supervisor can be filing paperwork for your injury. This doesn’t guarantee that your employer will approve your claim, it does officially start the process and if your claim gets denied it provides the first record of the injury to all parties who are involved in the claims process.
As a side note here, you may want to get a board certified workers’ compensation attorney involved in the claims process from the beginning so you can make sure you are following all of the procedures closely and don’t miss anything that could trip your claim up.
Once your claim has been approved, you are still not guaranteed to see all of your injuries treated according to what you think is the best course of action. Sometimes, in the course of a claim there ends up being disputes over treatment which can lead you to having to fight for the medical care that is required for you to recover from your injury. There are a variety of reasons why your treatment plan may become in dispute and you should be aware of these reasons so you can be prepared in the event that this happens to you.
Reason #1: Costs. It will come as no surprise to you that companies are often concerned about the cost of medical care that is the result of a workers’ compensation claim. Often injuries can become very costly for employers and therefore they may dispute the treatment plan as unnecessary. Your employer may argue that the cost of the treatment plan outweighs the benefit that it provides to you as the injured party.
Reason #2: Disputes may arise over the severity of the injury. Employers and insurance companies may spend time disputing how severe your injury is and whether or not a treatment plan is necessary due to the fact that the injury is not as severe as a treating physician may initially assess. Your employer or their insurance company may argue that the treatment is unnecessary.
Reason #3: The treatment is not readily available. Some injuries, especially unusual injuries, may not be readily available in your immediate location and may require travel or other accommodations for treatment to be administered. If this is the case a dispute may arise over whether or not the employer has an obligation to you to provide an alternative treatment to make sure your injury is healed.
Reason #4: Your personal preference. Often there are a variety of ways to treat an injury and if your opinion on which treatment option to go with differs from your employer’s opinion a dispute may arise. In this case, the dispute may come down to who has the ultimate decision making power on the treatment plan moving forward.
If you find yourself facing a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim which is under dispute over the treatment plan you can try to work it out with your employer’s insurance company, you can appeal to the Workers’ Compensation Board on your own or you could hire a board certified workers’ compensation attorney who can work on your situation with you and protect your long-term interests.
