A Worker’s compensation lawyer in Pittsburgh can help an employee receive benefits after an injury at work. Example benefits may include disability coverage, rehabilitation expenses and medical care. When someone is injured at work or acquires a job related illness, he is eligible to receive benefits available through his employer’s worker’s compensation insurance.
Medical care is one of the benefits offered through this insurance. If the employee falls down or gets sick because of being exposed to a substance, the person is taken to the hospital. The hospital has to diagnose and treat the illness or injury, which leads to incurring hospital bills. Worker’s compensation insurance usually covers surgeries, medication, equipment like wheelchairs and doctor visits. However, the coverage can vary from state to state.
Rehabilitation benefits cover physical therapy and therapeutic and medical care for recovering from the illness or injury. These benefits can also cover the expenses for training and care to help with regaining the skills necessary for returning to work. If the injury prevents you from returning to your job, the insurance may pay for tuition and training to help with obtaining another job.
Disability benefits compensate the employee for lost wages when the injury makes it impossible to work. The type of disability can fall into four categories, which are temporary total disability, temporary partial disability, permanent total disability and permanent partial disability. Temporary total prevents the person from working at all for a temporary amount of time. The person may not be able to work right now, but will be able to in the near future. The majority of disabilities fall into this category.
Temporary partial prevents the employee from doing some of the duties at their job. For example, if the person is a nurse, she may be able to continue administering pain medication and giving shots but may be unable to lift patients. Permanent total prevents the person from ever working at a job. The person does not have to be medically incapacitated or helpless to fall into this category, just unable to work. Permanent partial is when permanent damage is done, but only partially impairs the person’s ability to work. Some employees are hesitant to seek help because of not knowing their rights. A Worker’s compensation lawyer in Pittsburgh who can help clients with recovering damages.
