| If you have been injured at work in Pennsylvania, | | | | words, don't automatically believe what your |
| you do not have to treat with a company or | | | | employer or its insurance company says. They |
| designated doctor unless a list of medical | | | | may not be telling you the truth, or may not be |
| providers is given to you by your employer or its | | | | telling you the whole truth. Since the company can |
| insurance company, according to the Pennsylvania | | | | have control of treatment for 90 days -you may |
| Workers' Compensation Act. Looking at it the | | | | want -at least once - to choose to be examined |
| opposite way, you must treat with a company | | | | by a doctor in whom you have confidence and |
| doctor (or at least with a designated facility), only | | | | who will look after your best interest. This is true |
| if your employer or its insurance copmany has | | | | even if you have to pay for the treatment |
| provided you with a list of at least six healthcare | | | | yourself. If not, after the 90 days, you won't |
| providers. Of course, it's not easy to know if the | | | | have a doctor who can fully document and |
| least is correct. That's why you should contact | | | | confirm your injury to the insurance company, let |
| attorney Jack B. Katz, former chair of the | | | | alone start to cure you! (You should always notify |
| Philadelphia Bar Association Workers' | | | | your employer of the name and address of your |
| Compensation Section, who will review the | | | | treating physician within 5 days of you initial |
| information you have received and provide legal | | | | treatment.) After 90 days, you absolutely should |
| advice. If a proper list of six places was not | | | | treat with your own doctors. The employer is |
| provided at your workplace, then you are | | | | then entitled only to periodic examinations but not |
| immediately free to treat with a physician of your | | | | to have you treat with their doctors. (The |
| own choosing -no matter what the employer tells | | | | employer's or insurance company's doctors are |
| you or hands you. If a proper list is provided, then | | | | not being paid by you and may be under pressure |
| you need to treat with at least one of these | | | | to get you back to work before you are really |
| providers for 90 days from the first date of | | | | ready.) Finally, if surgery is prescribed by a |
| treatment. If a specialist is needed and one is not | | | | company-designated doctor, employees may get |
| on the posted list, a injured worker may treat | | | | a second opinion by a doctor of their choice -paid |
| with a doctor of his own choosing. The employer | | | | for by the employer. This handy Pennsylvania |
| will be responsible for the bill. (This includes | | | | workers' compensation law tip is provided by the |
| chiropractor, if needed, and none is posted.) What | | | | Philadelphia workers' compensation law office of |
| does this all really mean? If an employee fails to | | | | Attorney Jack B. Katz, Law Offices of Jack B. |
| treat with a designated provider for the first 90 | | | | Katz, 1213 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19107, |
| days, the employer does not have to pay for the | | | | Email |
| medical treatment received during that time only - | | | | Philadelphia workers compensation attorney Jack |
| that is all that the above means! It does not | | | | B. Katz, and the Law Offices of Jack B. Katz |
| mean that the claim itself will be denied or that | | | | have been representing injured workers for more |
| you will not receive any weekly benefits. In other | | | | than two decades. |