How to Protect Your Future
Getting past, present and future medical treatment for your work injury paid for is an important part of filing a worker’s compensation claim, but it’s not everything. Whether you will require long-term medical care or your injury affects your ability to work in the future, Fields Law Firm can help you get the workers compensation benefits you need so you can focus on getting better and returning to work.
Potential Claims and Benefits
Every workers compensation case is different, and it’s important to look at all of the potential claims related to your work injury. At Fields Law Firm, we have the one of the largest teams of professionals dedicated to helping injured workers in Minnesota, and we are committed to making sure every injured worker receives the benefits they need and deserve.
Because we handle different types of Workers Compensation and Disability Claims in Minnesota, we can evaluate your case to determine whether you may be eligible to receive additional compensation and benefits for your injuries, such as:
- Social Security Disability (SSD) Benefits
If your injury prevents you from doing the work you used to do or requires that you adjust to another type of work, you may be eligible to receive Social Security Disability benefits for additional financial support. - Long Term Disability (LTD) Benefits
If you or your employer participate in a Private or Long Term Disability plan, we can help make sure the insurance company pays you the benefits they owe you. - Vocational Rehabilitation
We can help make sure that your insurer covers your new career training and wage loss if your injuries require you to learn new job skills to go back to work. - Personal Injury Claims
If a person or company other than your employer contributed to your injuries, you may be able to file a claim for compensation beyond what your workers compensation benefits provide.
Our Minnesota workers compensation lawyers are here to help you get all of the future medical, wage loss and employment benefits you’re entitled to after you’ve been hurt at work. Whether you’re wondering about your rights or just need help understanding what comes next, we’re here to answer your questions with free, no-obligation advice you can trust.
What if I have an old work injury and need additional medical treatment?
If you have an older work injury and the workers compensation insurer paid for your wage loss or medical treatment, regardless of when it was, you can still submit new claims for medical treatment now, as long as you never settled your claim with medical closed. Even if the insurer didn’t pay for any of your wage loss or medical treatment, as long as they admitted the injury was work-related you can still submit a new claim if the claim hasn’t settled with medical closed.
“Medical closed” means that you do not have the right to pursue future medical claims against the workers compensation insurance company. “Medical open” means that you have the right to submit future medical claims to the workers compensation insurer. However, they can still deny your claims even if you have medical open, if the insurer has reason to believe that the treatment is not reasonable, necessary, or related to your original work injury.
If you have an older injury that you settled with medical closed, then you cannot submit a new claim to workers compensation. You will need to submit new medical treatment claims to your own private health insurance.
If you have an injury that happened over six years ago and it was never reported to the workers compensation insurer, then you cannot submit a workers compensation claim because you have exceeded the statute of limitations.
You have also exceeded the statute of limitations if you have an injury that happened over three years ago and was reported to workers compensation, but the insurance company never admitted the injury was work-related, and you never received any medical treatment or wage loss.
When to Contact a Workers Compensation Lawyer
You should contact our Minnesota workers compensation lawyers right away if you submit a claim on an admitted injury, or one that you settled with medical open, and the insurer refuses to pay. We can advise you on how best to pursue getting the treatment that you need.
Oftentimes, we will advise you to submit the claim to your own insurance until we can get the insurance company to pay. It then becomes a matter between your private health insurer and the workers comp insurer, and the one insurer has to pay the other back.
Regardless of when your work injury happened, you can count on Fields Law to be there when you need us most. We’ll take care of your needs now while also looking out for your future. Contact us today, and let us help you plan for life after your work injury. Just dial 1-888-343-5375 or fill out a free contact request form.