The High Cost of Workers Comp

The High Cost of Workers Comp

Alabama Workers Compensation Lawyers The High Cost of Workers Comp: Earlier this month I spoke on the the phone with one of my workers compensation clients; they informed me that the stress and financial problems he and his family have been forced to go through during the pendency of his workers’ compensation claim has pushed he and his wife to divorce. Unfortunately this is not an unusual telephone call for me to take, and it makes me sick.

Most reports that I see concerning the cost of workers compensation cases center on the cost insurance companies have to pay, with the focus being on rising medical costs, but this is nothing compared to the human tragedy injured workers and their families are forced to endure.

The Department of Labor has reported that less than 40 percent of workers who are eligible to apply for workers compensation following an injury actually apply for it. The report also states that “Employers provide just 20 percent of the overall financial cost of workplace injuries and illnesses through workers’ compensation, according to the report. As a result, taxpayers are subsidizing the vast majority of the income and medical care costs of injured workers.

This is being done at a time when workers comp premiums are at their lowest rate in over 30 years and workers comp insurance carrier’s profits are at their highest in a decade.
The real cost in workers compensation cases is the cost paid by the injured worker. I could not tell you the number of calls I have received from injured workers saying that they have lost their homes, their automobiles, and their families after suffering a serious job injury. In Alabama, injured workers are routinely denied necessary medical treatment because the insurance company thinks the medical costs are too high, so they find another doctor in another State to opine that the medical treatment recommended by the doctor actually treating the injured worker in not needed. TTD checks are often “late,” and mileage reimbursement takes forever to be paid.

The workers compensation system was set up so that lawyers would only be needed to help a worker who suffered a catastrophic injury and might not be able to return to their old job, or to any other type of employment; but, today in Alabama workers have to fight just to have a MRI performed. This is not hyperbole. We have filed suit for clients several times where the doctor the workers compensation insurance carrier told our client to see ordered a MRI, but the insurance carrier refused to comply with the doctor’s request. We filed suit to ensure that the worker receives the treatment the law states they are entitled to receive so they can recover and get back to work as soon as possible, but often by the time the injured worker finally receives the medical and monetary benefits they are entitled to receive the damage is done, and in Alabama, generally there is no “real” penalty paid by the workers compensation insurance carrier.

If you were hurt at work, don’t give up.

If you were hurt at work and you have questions about your right to Alabama Workers Compensation benefits, don’t hesitate to contact and speak with one of the experienced Alabama Workers Compensation Lawyers at Powell and Denny today.

Powell and Denny: We Work When You Can’t

Offices in Huntsville, AL and Hoover, AL

Alabama Workers Compensation Attorneys

Hoover Workers Compensation Lawyers

Huntsville Workers’ Compensation Attorneys

Powell and Denny have been selected as one of the Best Law Firms by U.S. News and World Report for each of the last 6 years, have been selected as one of Birmingham’s Top Lawyers by B-Metro Magazine for the last 3 years, have been selected by The National Advocates as one of the Top 20 Workers’ Compensation Firms (plaintiffs) and Powell and Denny, P.C.-has been selected as one of the “Best of the Best” law firms by The American Registry.

Mr. Denny is AV rated by Martindale Hubbard (the highest rating possible) and Mr. Powell has been rated as Superior by The National Registry

The High Cost of Workers Comp