How Does Workers’ Comp Work in Florida?
The economic cost of nonfatal serious injuries exceeds $2 trillion a year. Medical bills and lost wages make up most of that cost. Florida’s workers’ compensation system replaces lost wages and pays medical bills, if those expenses are connected to a job-related injury or illness. However, compensation in a job injury case is a process, not a result.
A Tampa workers’ compensation lawyer works diligently for job injury victims from the beginning to the end of this long and difficult process. Attorneys thoroughly evaluate job injury matters and determine if the workers’ compensation law applies and if any defenses, such as worker intoxication at the time of injury, may exist. Then, a Tampa workers’ compensation lawyer pushes the case through the system as quickly as possible.
Filing a Claim
Most victims must report job-related illnesses or injuries to their supervisors within thirty days. This deadline usually isn’t a problem in falls and other trauma injury cases. But it could be a big problem in hearing loss and other occupational disease claims.
Most hearing loss victims don’t see doctors if they must turn up the TV volume. In fact, most hearing loss victims don’t see doctors until their illness is almost debilitating. By that time, the claims deadline has passed.
A variation of the delayed discovery rule protects victims in these situations. According to this rule, victims must file claims thirty days after they discover the full extent of their damages and they connect such illnesses or injuries with a workplace condition.
The report need not go into all the details. But it must be specific enough to allow the employer to investigate the claim. Employers cannot directly contest liability, at least in most cases. Workers’ comp is no-fault insurance. But employers can and do shift blame for an illness or injury onto third parties, such as product manufacturers or negligent co-workers.
Incidentally, Florida law requires claims to be in writing. There’s some dispute as to whether a text message or email constitute written notice.
Claims Examiner Review
This section will be very short because most Claims Examiners deny most claims, at least in part. Frequently, CE don’t even reach the merits before they issue denials. For example, a CE might deny a claim because an occupational disease victim missed the deadline or an injury victim didn’t fill out the form correctly.
Technical denials are actually good news. These denials usually mean the claim is meritorious, and a Tampa workers’ compensation lawyer must simply clean it up or add some additional evidence, like an independent medical examination report.
Administrative Law Judge Hearing
Claims Examiner review is a paper review. The CE simply reviews the medical bills and a few other pertinent documents. But an ALJ appeal is basically a trial, where attorneys from both sides introduce evidence, challenge evidence, and make legal arguments.
The amount of back pay, which could be significant, is one of the most pressing issues. Additionally, many insurance companies claim that medical bills were not reasonably necessary.
Nevertheless, since the tables are turned at ALJ hearings and Tampa workers’ compensation lawyers can do what they do best, most claims settle out of court, and on victim-friendly terms, prior to such hearings.
Work With a Hard-Hitting Hillsborough County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to important financial benefits. For a confidential consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Tampa, contact Kobal Law. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.
Source:
cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7048a1.htm
