Can I Get Wage Loss Benefits Through Worker’s Compensation?
The benefits available to workers sustaining a personal injury at work fall into two broad categories:
- medical care, and
- wage loss.
Within those broad categories, there are many subdivisions. The experienced worker’s compensation attorney Attorney Eric T. Kirk will tell you that wage loss or indemnity benefits, in turn, come in four types:
- permanent total
- permanent partial
- temporary total, and
- temporary partial disability benefits.
I’ve handled thousands of workers’ compensation cases over the years. My sense has always been that an insurance company is much more likely to voluntarily provide medical benefits -usually in the form of a trip to a local clinic- typically one that derives a large part of its revenue from “handling” workers’ compensation cases. This willingness to provide medical only benefits can dissipate quickly if the care need for the injured worker involves surgery or some form of expensive treatment. It has also always been my sense that a carrier is much less likely to voluntarily provide wage loss benefits.
