Lansdale, PA Work Injury & Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

Injuries at work can take you off of your work duties for weeks, months, or even years.  Depending on the seriousness of the injury, you could even be left unable to ever return to work.  All this time, you will have medical expenses and lost earnings, but Workers’ Compensation can help alleviate these financial pressures.

Our attorneys can help you seek out Workers’ Comp benefits.  In the likely event that your employer’s insurance denies your claim, we can take them to court and file a petition to get you the benefits you should get.  We can also help reach settlements, when appropriate, to cover your full benefits in a lump sum.

For a free review of your injury claim, call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialists at Cardamone Law by dialing (267) 651-7945.

Workers’ Comp Benefits Available for Work Injuries in Lansdale, PA

If you get hurt at work, you usually face three major areas of harm: lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering.  While you cannot get pain and suffering through Workers’ Compensation, it might be available through alternative sources.  However, Workers’ Comp provides no-fault coverage for medical expenses and pays you 2/3 of your lost earnings, in addition to potential “specific loss” benefits for an amputation or other permanent injuries discussed below.

Note that Workers’ Comp’s no-fault nature means that you do not need to prove that your employer was at fault before getting benefits from them.  In fact, you can even get benefits if you were the one who accidentally caused your own injury – a situation that could never result in damages from a lawsuit.

All in all, you can seek the following benefits:

Lost Wages/Earnings

Also called “indemnity benefits,” “wage-loss benefits,” or payments for “lost earning capacity,” lost wages can be covered with payments from Workers’ Comp.  Typically, these benefits are paid at a rate of 2/3 of your average weekly wage from before your accident.  This is subject to a cap at the statewide average weekly wage, which fluctuates depending on the year you start benefits.  If your pay is lower than average, you could be entitled to receive a minimum benefit set at half of the statewide average that year or 90% of your average wage, whichever is lower.

If you can still work while you are receiving benefits, then you will be able to subtract your average from before the accident and your new average and receive 2/3 of that result, allowing you to continue to make money while you can still work.

Medical Coverage

In the first 90 days of treatment, you usually need to work with a doctor chosen from a list of providers.  Your employer or their Workers’ Comp carrier writes this list, usually electing to use doctors that practice specifically in treating work injuries.  You can usually trust that these doctors might try to downplay your injuries, potentially making it hard to get the full benefit of having Workers’ Comp pay for your treatment.

However, if you need to see a specialist not on the list, you can choose your own doctor.  You can also go to a doctor of your choice after the first 90 days, potentially opening up more personalized care.

Note that we call these benefits “medical,” but they also cover physical therapy and mental health therapy, along with other potential care needs like chiropractic care.

Specific Loss

If your injury involves a permanent loss – including amputations, lost function, hearing loss, or vision loss – then you are often able to claim direct compensation for that.  This comes in the form of a number of weekly payments of 2/3 of your average wage for a set number of weeks assigned in the Workers’ Comp Act.  For example, a lost foot results in 250 weeks of payments.

These payments are also available for significant scarring on the face.

How Settlements for Workers’ Comp Claims Work in Lansdale

If your Workers’ Comp claim is granted and the insurance carrier pays you the benefits you are entitled to, the wage-loss and specific loss benefits are paid to you, and the medical benefits are typically paid directly to your healthcare provider.  These benefits are paid as you go, with weekly or bi-weekly checks to you (depending on the pay schedule you had before your injury).  However, settlements can be reached that change this.

When Settlements Happen

If the insurance carrier denies your claim and we file a petition in court to get you the benefits you deserve, it is possible that the carrier will offer you a settlement at that stage.  Settlements can also be offered later in the case, such as when you have been on permanent benefits for a while and the insurance carrier tries to find excuses to stop paying you.

When settlements are issued for Workers’ Comp, they usually involve payments for both the indemnity/wage-loss benefits and medical expenses, giving you a “lump-sum settlement” for everything.  These settlements are also referred to as “global” settlements.

Accepting a Settlement

If you want to accept a settlement, you should go over it with your lawyers first and foremost to make sure that there is enough money in the settlement to cover the wage-loss benefits through the time you are projected to be healed up and able to return to work, as well as enough money to cover any remaining medical care you need.  If your condition is stable and unlikely to decline, then getting the rest of the medical care paid at once might be fine.  If your condition is likely to get worse and require additional medical care down the road, then settling now might block you out of additional money you need for your medical care.

Keep in mind that most settlements involve a “compromise and release,” which involves signing away your right to further appeal the claim and your right to go back and claim additional benefits for the same injury.  This means you only get one chance at settlement and should always discuss the case with your lawyers before signing anything.

Call Our Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in Lansdale, PA Today

For a free review of your case, contact Cardamone Law’s Workers’ Compensation lawyers right away at (267) 651-7945.