Workers Comp No Company Doctors
WHAT IF I AM FORCED TO TREAT WITH THE COMPANY DOCTOR?

If you are being told by the employer or its insurer that your only option is to treat with an unsympathetic or even incompetent company doctor, your injury could be made worse while at the same time your rights under the Act are being prejudiced. The same is true where your employer’s unfairly limited description of injury keeps you from getting care you truly need.  You might also be denied treatment or prescription medications due to an insurance adjuster's refusal to "pre-authorize payment" – sometimes even outright lying to pharmacists or physicians to avoid approving an expense.

At other times, your access to treatment or medications may be cut off or limited for no reason whatsoever, often in complete violation of the Workers’ Compensation Act.  
These tactics can hurt not only your right to medical benefits, but also your right to wage-replacement benefits. This is because in workers' compensation, your entitlement to wage loss benefits almost always depends upon your disability status (except for cases of "specific loss", for example, loss of a limb or digit) and your disability status is defined by the doctors who treat or examine you. If your access to treatment is cut-off, your right to wage loss benefits may soon follow.

An injured worker must find his way around these obstacles when seeking a physician, or his rights will be lost. In workers' compensation matters, it is important to find medical experts who will not only provide you with competent and sympathetic treatment, but who may also be relied upon to document your claim in accordance with the standards of the Act and with the understanding that workers' compensation claims often give rise to litigation. In fact, even where the employer and insurer have acknowledged your claim and are paying benefits, they may elect to pursue litigation at virtually any time, beginning with a request to a Judge to stop or reduce your benefits.

When you call me, I can help you to identify medical providers responsive to your needs and the needs of the Act, and competent to treat you with compassion, dignity and respect.

I have sixteen years of experience dealing with physicians and specialists in virtually all medical fields and convenient to your locality. I will help you in your search for a competent medical advocate, should you need it. I can also assure you that I will work with any physician, anywhere, who you feel provides reasonable and necessary care for your work injuries. I will confer with your medical expert to any extent needed to help him or her be a strong advocate for your claim. Whoever you choose to treat with, I will coordinate with your physicians to maximize your access to necessary care and to establish and protect your full rights.  Talk to me first, so that you will not be unecessarily forced to treat with the employer's doctors.  Call  610 924 5667 or 215 559 5003.


(c)2013 Tim Kennedy