4 Reasons Your Employer May Refuse To Send You To A Doctor After A Workplace Accident

In Florida, work-related injuries and illnesses are covered by workers’ compensation insurance. It means that if you get injured in a workplace accident, you can seek compensation through your employer’s workers’ comp insurance.

Going to a doctor is one of the first things that an employee should do after suffering an on-the-job injury. However, do not be surprised if your employer refuses to send you to a doctor after your workplace accident.

Why is Your Employer Refusing to Send You to a Doctor for Your Work-Related Injury?

There are several reasons your employer may refuse to send you to a doctor to diagnose your condition, and not all of these reasons are legal. It is advisable to contact a Tampa workers’ compensation attorney if your employer is refusing to send you to a doctor for medical treatment.

Let’s discuss the reasons an employer may refuse to send an injured employee to a doctor after a work-related injury or illness:

1. No Insurance Coverage

While Florida law requires businesses with at least four full- or part-time employees to purchase workers’ compensation insurance, not all employers are properly insured. Your employer may refuse to send you to a doctor or accept your claim due to their lack of insurance coverage.

For construction companies, the requirement is to purchase workers’ compensation insurance if they have at least one employee (Fla. Stat. § 440.02). Florida law does not require workers’ comp insurance for independent contractors.

2. Violation of the Law

An employer may refuse to send an injured employee to a doctor in violation of the law in an attempt to avoid an increase in insurance premiums. Florida law requires employers to send injured employees to an authorized healthcare provider to diagnose their injury and start the treatment.

However, an employer may attempt to avoid an increase in insurance premiums by not reporting the workplace accident to their insurer or not sending their worker to an authorized doctor.

3. Minor Injuries

If your employer believes that your work-related injury is not serious enough, they may refuse to send you to a hospital. However, refusing to send an injured employee to a doctor may worsen the worker’s condition. When injuries, even minor ones, are left untreated, they may get worse over time.

4. No Responsibility

An employer is likely to refuse to report your injury to their insurance company or send you to a doctor if they believe that your injury is not eligible for workers’ compensation. While Florida law allows injured workers to obtain workers’ comp benefits regardless of fault, a claim may be denied under certain circumstances.

For example, your employer is likely to refuse to send you to an authorized doctor or report your injury to their insurance company if your accident occurred outside of the scope and course of employment or you were intoxicated at the time of the accident.

However, it is up to the employer’s insurance company to determine whether or not an employee’s injury is compensable, which is why your employer may be violating the law by refusing to send you to a doctor.

If your employer failed to send you to a doctor within a reasonable amount of time after you reported your workplace accident, do not hesitate to talk to a skilled lawyer. Our workers’ comp attorney at Kobal Law is prepared to help. Call 813-873-2440 today.

Resource:

leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0440/Sections/0440.02.html