Workers Compensation Lawyer in Chicago, Illinois Work Injury Attorney

A caller recently injured his back on the job.  Similar to most clients he's a nice guy, hard worker and had never had a work injury before.  As a result he was really taken aback when the insurance adjuster called him and instead of asking how he was feeling focused on things that to his mind had nothing to do with his case.  For example: "Do you have facial hair?  Any distinguishing moles?  How about tattoos?  Long hair or short hair?  Are you overweight?"

The reason for these questions are because the not so subtle insurance adjuster is going to order surveillance on this guy to see if he's faking it or to see that even if he's hurt if they can catch him doing something that a person with a back injury shouldn't do like mow the lawn or rake leaves.  But of course those things do need to happen so unless your doctor has told you that you can't do that or those activities cause you more pain, you have to live your life.

As stated many times over in this blog, just be honest and things will work out.  But this is a good example of how these cases really work.  The worker is focused on their health and getting better.  The insurance company wants to see if they can get a "gotcha" moment and save themselves some money.

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.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Many people that call us are not aware of their rights when it comes to being hurt on the job.   There is nothing more important than your health and in some cases the actions of an employer can jeopardize your health.

Specifically, if your employer tells you that you can only treat with the company doctor, they are risking your health.  Many of these groups are really places that have you see a physician's assistant or don't really examine you.  If you have compartment syndrome in your leg or a herniated disc in your back or neck, failure to get appropriate and timely treatment could make a fixable situation a life altering problem.

Remember, you have a right to choose your doctor for any reasonable care that is related to your Illinois work accident.  If you have a serious injury you should get with an orthopedic doctor or neurologist as soon as possible.   These physicians are best for serious injuries and give you the best chance of a good result in the long run.

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.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

When you have an injury that is covered under Illinois Workers' Compensation Law, your employer must pay for all medical treatment that is reasonable and related to your medical condition.  Well, what does that mean?

Reasonable:  This means that it is prescribed by a doctor and is medically accepted by most doctors to be a treatment that makes sense.  In other words, if you hurt your neck and buy yourself a pillow because it helps you sleep at night, we likely can't get the insurance company to pay for it.  On the other hand, if your doctor says that you need that pillow and writes a prescription for it then we can get you reimbursed.  We have secured gym memberships for our clients as well when their doctors felt working out would promote a recovery. 

Related: It has to be related to your work injury.  You may hurt your back at work and herniate a disc.  The doctor you see for that injury may also be giving you medical treatment for a knee injury from playing basketball or some other reason.  Some of these doctors carelessly bundle their bills and don't distinguish what is related to the work injury and what isn't.  We can only get bills that are part of the reasonable work injury treatment paid.

When your medical treatment is reasonable and related to your injury we usually get 100% of the bills paid with no co-pays or out of pocket expenses for our client.

If you have paid for anything out of pocket make sure to keep receipts.  We will do whatever we can to get you reimbursed ASAP.

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.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link