The medical benefits available through workers’ compensation are valuable. If they don’t apply for workers’ compensation, professionals might need to pay out of pocket for the costs of their care. They could face thousands of dollars in emergency care costs and even more in long-term medical support expenses.
Even if they have private health insurance coverage, patient responsibility costs could make them liable for thousands of dollars in medical expenses through deductibles and coinsurance. Workers’ compensation helps professionals by providing full medical benefits.
Professionals who qualify for workers’ compensation benefits do not have a deductible to pay and do not need to worry about costly coinsurance obligations or copays. How long can employees continue to receive workers’ compensation medical benefits after they get hurt on the job?
Injury severity determines the duration of coverage
If an injury is a partial injury likely to lead to a full recovery, then there are usually clear limits on how long workers’ compensation provides medical coverage. Typically, employees no longer receive benefits once they make a full recovery and are capable of returning to their positions at work, possibly with certain accommodations.
In scenarios where a work incident causes a permanent injury, the benefits may last for substantially longer. Treatment benefits may end when a physician determines that the patient has stopped responding to treatment. They can notify the employer and other interested parties that the employee has achieved maximum medical improvement (MMI) because they are unlikely to improve with continued treatment.
The worker who achieved MMI may still be eligible for benefits to manage their symptoms. Those basic benefits may persist for the rest of the worker’s life if they never truly recover. Long-term medical coverage is also available in cases where catastrophic injuries prevent workers from ever returning to work.
Employees worried about recovering the cost of surgery, physical therapy or medication that they need to take permanently may be able to rely on workers’ compensation to cover those costs. Learning more about workers’ compensation benefits can help employees make use of the systems in place for their protection. Medical benefits through workers’ compensation can help take financial pressure off of people with job-acquired injuries.