After experiencing a work-related injury, workers’ compensation benefits become available. In order to make the most out of your case and receive workers’ compensation benefits that are sufficient for your needs, a workers’ compensation attorney should be consulted. If you’ve already hired a work injury attorney and a settlement is being offered, it’s important to know your options.
Accepting a settlement for your workers’ compensation benefits can be both advantageous and ill-advised. Understanding what you gain and give up by accepting a settlement will help to ensure you are making the best decision. Here is some general information about settling your workers’ compensation case.
Settling Can Eliminate Your Weekly Benefits Prematurely
A workplace injury can cause a multitude of problems that extend beyond recovering from the injury itself. One of the advantages to workers’ compensation comes in the form of weekly benefits to help pay for the medical expenses and lost wages associated with the injury.
Settling a workers’ compensation case can eliminate these weekly benefits and prevent you from being able to ever again receive them for that particular injury. Make sure to ask the work injury attorney you are working with to better understand if this is a worthwhile choice.
Medical Payments Might Continue
Workers’ compensation differs from state to state. In California, employers and insurers can be required to continue medical payments even after reaching a settlement. It depends on the structure of the settlement.
Another important factor to consider is that, even if the insurers are required to continue medical payments, they might be more reluctant to do so after a settlement has been reached. This could develop into longer time periods or delays or even denials in getting needed treatment.
The advisability of structuring a settlement that does NOT include future medical care may depend on your access to medical care through other programs, such as another job, MediCal (Medicaid), Medicare or private insurance. Access to MediCal (Medicaid) and Medicare may be unavailable after a settlement, again depending on how the settlement is structured.
All of these scenarios will be important to speak with your work injury attorney about in order to better understand the potential risks and difficulties. As you may have heard, consult with an attorney early on. Initial consultations at many firms are free
The State Workers’ Compensation Agency Has to Approve Your Settlement
Even if you, your work injury attorney, and the insurance company all do agree on a settlement doesn’t mean that it will be accepted. Your settle will still have to be approved by a Judge at the state workers’ compensation agency before being finalized. In California, that agency is called the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.
Your settlement will only be approved if the judge agrees it is in your best interest and is satisfied that you are fully understanding of its terms. I have seen many settlements approved in cases in which I’m not involved that, in my opinion, should not have been approved, and very rarely if ever is the injured worker at the hearing to provide input or ask the Judge questions.
Always Consult a Work Injury Attorney
Determining your workers’ compensation settlement is not as easy as looking at a number on a piece of paper. Workers’ compensation benefits are just as much about what you are entitled to as they are about what you will actually receive. Your doctor and the doctor your insurers work with could reach different conclusions, for one. EARLY LEGAL INTERVENTION WORKS!
There are also the full range of disability benefits to consider, which many insurance companies will attempt to avoid by offering you a lump sum settlement in order to prevent ongoing payments for the duration of those benefits. Consulting a work injury attorney about your settlement is your best way of understanding whether or not the settlement is in your best interests.
Also, there are other disability programs and benefits available from other sources that should be coordinated with any settlement proposal.
If you have a workers’ compensation case near Sacramento and wish to speak with a California workers’ compensation attorney about your benefits or accepting a settlement, contact Gold Country Workers Comp Center. Our work injury attorneys provide free consultations and would be happy to help you navigate this process successfully.
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