When work causes you physical injuries like a blow to the head or a back injury, it’s usually covered by Workers’ Comp. But what about when it causes a heart attack?
If your heart attack was actually caused by the physical exertion or mental stress of your job, it can potentially be claimed as a Workers’ Comp case. You cannot, however, always make this connection, and heart attacks that just to happen to occur at work are not usually covered. Either way, strong evidence is needed to link the heart attack to your job.
For help with a work injury case, call Cardamone Law’s Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at (267) 651-7945.
When Are Heart Attacks Covered Under Workers’ Comp in Pennsylvania?
Just because a heart attack happened at work does not mean Workers’ Comp automatically covers it. Instead, our Bethlehem, PA Workers’ Comp lawyers need to show that it was actually related to your work and that it left you disabled.
Work-Relatedness
Heart attacks are often work-related if they are caused by either
- Physical exertion at work
- Severe mental/emotional stress at work.
You can often prove this link with evidence of what was happening when the heart attack occurred plus records from your doctors.
Disability
A mild heart attack may need emergency medical care, but it might not actually stop you from working or cause lost earning power. You can only get wage-loss benefits if your injury stops you from working for more than 7 days.
Many heart attack cases do meet this standard, as it might be impossible to return to physically demanding jobs. If you become totally disabled or have to take a lower-paying “desk job,” wage-loss benefits should be available.
What’s Needed to Prove Your Work-Related Heart Attack Case?
To show your heart attack was work-related, you need to show that it happened because of your work tasks or conditions.
Evidence of Work Tasks
To show that your heart attack occurred while you were doing your work tasks, you need evidence of what those work tasks are. Employee handbooks and testimony from you and your supervisors will help show this.
Causal Evidence
You then need to show that those work tasks were what caused the heart attack. This can be difficult if you were doing normal, everyday tasks when the heart attack occurred. Instead, you usually need to show something out of the ordinary, such as…
- Especially difficult exertion
- Especially hot, claustrophobic, or otherwise difficult working conditions
- Severe stress
- A build-up of stress over time.
Even if you have a history of heart disease, heart attacks, or risk factors for heart attacks, the fact that your work pushed you over the edge makes it work-related.
No Abnormal Conditions Needed
If you were claiming benefits for a purely mental injury with no physical symptoms, you might need proof that you were undergoing abnormal conditions when the mental injury occurred. Because a heart attack is a physical manifestation of mental/emotional stress, you do not need to meet this additional requirement.
Proof of unusual stressors – like a death at work – can help, but are not required.
Common Examples of Work-Related Heart Attack Claims
Workers’ Comp claims for heart attacks usually happen under situations like these:
Exertion-Related Heart Attacks
Regardless of your prior heart health, certain tasks at work might push you over the edge and help spur on a heart attack. These are common examples of this:
- Straining to lift heavy items
- Prolonged physical exertion
- Work-related emergencies (e.g., putting out fires, containing chemical spills)
- Hot and humid weather or conditions
- Work in claustrophobic protective gear (e.g., respirators and masks).
Stress-Related Heart Attacks
Stress from work is inevitable, but it doesn’t usually cause heart attacks. To prove your heart attack stemmed from work, you usually need especially stressful events like these:
- Witnessing a death at work
- Working on an emergency deadline
- Handling an especially important case or project
- Taking on extra responsibilities while understaffed
- Working during especially close scrutiny (e.g., during rounds of layoffs or while competing for a promotion)
- Working to keep a failing business afloat.
What Damages Can You Get for a Heart Attack?
Workers’ Compensation pays three typical areas of benefits for a claim:
Medical Bills
Medical bills cover the full cost of treatment. For a heart attack, this might mean emergency surgery, days or weeks in the hospital to recover, and cardiac rehab, along with medication.
Wage-Loss Benefits
Wage-loss benefits cover 2/3 of pre-injury wages while you cannot work or 2/3 of the difference in wages if you work for reduced wages, all subject to caps and floors.
Heart attacks might stop you from working for a few months while you recover. Depending on your age and condition, some might prevent you from returning to your old job ever again, requiring a career change, retraining, and a potential loss in earning capacity.
Specific Loss Benefits
Specific loss benefits cover amputations, total lost function, lost vision, lost hearing, and serious facial scars. The rate is usually 2/3 of your pre-injury average wage, subject to caps and floors, paid for a length of time set for each listed injury.
These listed injuries usually don’t come up in a heart attack case unless other injuries are part of the same accident. For example, if you suffered a heart attack and fell into moving machinery, you may face amputation or facial scarring.
FAQs for Workers’ Comp for Heart Attacks
Are All Heart Attacks at Work Covered?
Just because your heart attack happened while you were at work doesn’t mean it was work-related. You can only claim Workers’ Comp if the heart attack stemmed from work-related exertion or stress.
How Can I Prove My Heart Attack Was Work-Related?
Usually, you need to show a heart attack happened either because of the physical demand of work tasks or because of the serious stress of work tasks. Strange and abnormal situations are not required, but they help prove there was added stress or exertion.
Does Workers’ Comp Pay for Cardiac Rehab?
Yes, cardiac rehab should be covered. Any medical treatments or therapies recommended to treat your condition and carried out by licensed providers should be covered.
Can I Get Workers’ Comp if I Move from a Physical Job to a “Desk Job”?
Many workers in physical industries like manufacturing or construction can pivot to supervisory roles or “desk jobs” after a work-related heart attack. If this results in reduced wages, you can get wage-loss benefits to defray that loss.
Medical bills should be covered regardless of your ability to work or not.
When Can I Go Back to Work After a Heart Attack?
Your timeline for returning to work will depend heavily on your overall health, the severity of your heart attack, and your usual work tasks. Going back to the same physically demanding or stressful conditions that caused your heart attack might be impossible, requiring a job change.
Your doctors will let you know when it is safe to ease back into work and what limitations or accommodations are required.
Call Our Workers’ Comp Lawyers Today
Call (267) 651-7945 for a free case review with the Harrisburg, PA Workers’ Comp lawyers at Cardamone Law.
