Experienced Pennsylvania workers’ compensation attorneys frequently are involved in cases where an injured worker, no longer able to perform his or her pre-injury job, is referred to other jobs in the community by a vocational counselor, at the request of the workers’ compensation insurance carrier. As lawyers who limit our…
Articles Posted in Case Law Update
Specific Loss Benefits Require Medical Evidence in PA Workers’ Comp
An injured worker in Pennsylvania is generally entitled to be compensated for his or her lost wages (called “indemnity” benefits), and have medical expenses related to the work injury paid. When an injured worker loses the use of certain parts of the body, payment can also be obtained (this is…
Employer Need Not Show Job Not Available to Injured Worker in PA
One of the tools a workers’ compensation insurance company has in PA to reduce, or “modify,” workers’ compensation benefits is the Labor Market Survey (LMS) (Also called “Earning Power Assessment” (EPS)). This is used when the injured worker has physical limitations which prevent a return to the injured worker’s previous…
Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) in PA Workers’ Compensation
To answer an often asked question, in Pennsylvania, there is no limit to how long an injured worker can receive total disability workers’ compensation benefits. However, as a practical matter, it is difficult to receive total disability benefits in PA for more than two years. After an injured worker in…
Workers Compensation Settlement in Pennsylvania Not Final Until Approved by a Workers’ Compensation Judge
An injured worker in PA can settle both the wage loss and medical parts of his or her case by entering into a Compromise & Release Agreement. This is something which can only be done when both the injured worker and the workers’ comp insurance company agree to settle the…
IME: Injured Worker in PA Not Required to Get EEG
We are often asked by injured workers about things related to Independent Medical Examinations (IME). The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act allows a workers’ comp insurance company to send an injured worker to a doctor of their choosing approximately twice a year. If an injured worker does not attend an IME,…
Injured Worker in PA Jeopardizes Workers’ Compensation Benefits by Taking Pension
Logic may make you think that if you are permanently disabled from your career as a result of a work injury, you are free to take your pension and continue receiving workers’ compensation benefits. Unfortunately, this is not the case in Pennsylvania, and whether to take a pension in a…
Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp Insurance Pays for Cost of Wheelchair Accessible Van
In a recent decision favorable to injured workers in PA, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania said that, under certain circumstances, a workers’ compensation insurance company must pay not only to modify a van to be wheelchair accessible, but to pay for the cost of the van itself. This is an…