Contact a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer, Even if Your Medical Bills Are Being Paid: Here’s Why

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Nebraska is a state that has a “prompt payment rule” for medical expenses in workers’ compensation cases. This means that so long as your employer has sufficient knowledge that your medical care is necessary because of the injury, your bills should be paid. This is a huge plus because even a minor workers’ compensation injury can cause an employee to rack up thousands of dollars in medical bills.

In Nebraska, delay of medical payment is treated as a denial of a claim. That is why a delay in paying for medical bills from a work injury gives the employee the right to pick their own doctor for a work injury.

The issue of doctor choice brings up a couple of the hidden dangers of the prompt payment rule.  Many times, employers will promptly pay medical expenses for doctors who will oftentimes release employees before they are done healing and return employees back to work before they are ready. Employees need to be able to know their doctor-choice rights before they agree to an employer/insurer-oriented clinic or doctor – especially if that doctor is not their family doctor.

Secondly, employees can get lulled into contentment when an employer pays their medical bills. Medical benefits are one aspect of workers’ compensation benefits; the other is loss of income benefits. An employer/insurer may use their leverage with a doctor to minimize loss of income benefits. Also, when employees get into litigation, they are oftentimes confused by the fact that an employer will pay for medical benefits, but not loss of income benefits, or will deny that the injury is even work related. This is related to the prompt payment rule. Just because an employer pays medical bills, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they or a workers’ compensation judge will believe those medical bills are related to the work accident.

The offices of Rehm, Bennett, Moore & Rehm, which also sponsors the Trucker Lawyers website, are located in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. Five attorneys represent plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, personal injury, employment and Social Security disability claims. The firm’s lawyers have combined experience of more than 95 years of practice representing injured workers and truck drivers in Nebraska, Iowa and other states with Nebraska and Iowa jurisdiction. The lawyers regularly represent hurt truck drivers and often sue Crete Carrier Corporation, K&B Trucking, Werner Enterprises, UPS, and FedEx. Lawyers in the firm hold licenses in Nebraska and Iowa and are active in groups such as the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Workers' Injury Law & Advocacy Group (WILG), American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Nebraska Association of Trial Attorneys (NATA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). We have the knowledge, experience and toughness to win rightful compensation for people who have been injured or mistreated.

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