Illinois workers' compensation claims about to get more expensive
And you can blame Gene Keefe, a well known workers' compensation defense lawyer, for causing workers, insurance companies and employers to have to pay more money. From my standpoint, he is not only hurting workers (which probably pleases him), but also hurting his actual clients (which makes no sense).
Long story short is that in most cases we issue a subpoena to get your medical records. Standard charges have been $20 per subpoena. On a typical case it will cost around $40-$100.
Keefe and his client, Dr. David Fletcher, alleged that Fletcher was losing $20,000+ a year on copy costs and labor. Never mind that Dr. Fletcher makes a mint off of treating patients, he wasn't happy with the way things work. Strangely though, he sought help from the one attorney who shouldn't want to help him.
In a recent Appellate Court decision, the Court ruled that subpoena fees shouldn't be $20 a pop, but rather that medical providers can either bring their chart to court (which would be a waste of time and useless) or we can pay per page based on how many records are copied. If this was costing one doctor $20,000+ a year, you can imagine how much this will cost injured workers and employers. If you have a doctor with 1,000+ pages of medical records relating to your care, you might be faced with a bill for $200 or so. We advance those costs, but in the end it comes out of your pocket.
This matter will likely end up at the Illinois Supreme Court as it even implies that the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission doesn't have power to issue a subpoena. Hopefully, for the sake of workers and businesses in Illinois (other than the doctors who will make a windfall), this rule gets straightened out.
We are workers' compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys. Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.
