How long your workers’ compensation case stays open will depend upon a spread of things. Every case is different: different injuries, different employee and employer, different insurance company, and different worker compensation audit. A few of the factors affecting case closure include the benefits you need, your rehabilitation plan, the insurance company’s denial of benefits, and progress of settlement discussions.
Benefits
Depending on your injury and the time you miss from work due to the injury, you will be eligible for different types of benefits. If you miss no time from work, your claim will remain open while you receive any medical aid you would like . If you miss time from work, payment of your wage loss benefits will begin after you've got been disabled for 10 days. After that, you'll receive wage loss benefits for quite while counting on your injury and whether you'll return to figure . For example, you'll receive temporary partial disability benefits until 450 weeks past the initial injury date. You can receive permanent total disability benefits until retirement. Your claim will remain open during this time.
Rehabilitation Plan and Return to Work
If you participate during a rehabilitation plan directed by a QRC, your workers’ compensation claim will remain open while you finish the plan. Each plan is different, but vocational services may take a while to finish . If you qualify for retraining, you may receive it for up to 156 weeks. It takes some injured workers an extended time to return to figure , whether due to the extent of their injuries or because they have changes to their job to continue working. A knowledgeable workers’ compensation lawyer never pushes his or her clients to return to figure before they're ready, albeit the claim stays open for years.
Denial of Benefits and Claim Petition Process
Workers’ compensation cases take longer to shut if the insurance firm denies benefits and therefore the worker files a Claim Petition. At now , the worker and therefore the insurance firm conduct discovery and depositions to seek out out important medical information and other facts which will resolve the dispute over compensability. This can take six months or more to complete. If the parties don't resolve the dispute (see below), the claim will attend a hearing before a workers’ compensation judge. The hearing is sort of a court trial and can last a half-day or more. After the hearing, the judge will issue a decision resolving the dispute. The injured worker can appeal the judge’s decision to the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals.
Possible Settlement
Some workers’ compensation cases settle long before they go to a hearing. Settlement involves a compromise between the worker and therefore the insurance firm . The company agrees to pay a certain amount of money in exchange for a release of the worker’s claims. Some settlements leave medical benefits open, meaning that the worker receives continuing medical benefits but gives up his right to wage loss or rehabilitation benefits.
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