Tampa Workers’ Compensation Benefits Lawyer
Workers’ compensation benefits are vital after an on-the-job injury. They pay for your medical care and help support you financially while you are out of work recovering from your injury. If you can’t go back to work at the same job or the same pay, workers’ comp can get you retrained for a new position or make up the difference between your old and new rates of pay. And if you are permanently disabled and can’t work at all, then additional financial support is available as well. Below we discuss the chief benefits Florida workers’ compensation provides to injured workers. If you are having trouble getting the benefits you need because the employer is disputing your evidence of injury or has denied your claim, Franco Law Firm can help. Contact our experienced Tampa workers’ compensation benefits lawyer today for a free consultation and immediate assistance getting your benefits approved.
Medical Benefits
Workers’ compensation pays for all necessary medical care, treatment and prescriptions related to your injury. The doctors and health care providers treating you bill worker’s compensation directly and get reimbursed by workers’ comp, so you should never get a bill or have to pay out of pocket for medical expenses. Be sure and tell your doctor at your initial visit that your injury is work-related. If the insurance company disputes the medical care or services you need, such as surgery or certain medications, call Franco Law Firm for help.
Wage Loss Replacement
You can start receiving a replacement for lost wages after missing more than seven days of work. If you end up missing more than 21 days of work, you can go back and get wage loss coverage for the first seven days you missed as well.
Lost time benefits generally amount to two-thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to minimum and maximum amounts in the law. Florida workers’ compensation law recognizes different types of wage replacement benefits, depending on the type of disability:
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Temporary Total Disability (TTD) – These benefits can be paid for up to 104 weeks while you are out of work. If the injury is severe, you might be entitled to as much as 80% of your average weekly wage for as long as six months, instead of the two-thirds benefit that is normally paid for TTD.
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Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) – If you are released by your doctor to work with restrictions or perform light duty, you can receive TPD benefits to make up the difference between your pre-injury and post-injury wages. TPD benefits are available when your new assignment pays less than 80% of your previous assignment. These benefits are available for up to 104 weeks.
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Permanent Impairment Benefits – If you can return to work but still retain some disability from the injury, you can receive wage replacement for a certain number of weeks calculated according to the impairment rating assigned by your doctor according to the AMA guides and schedules required by Florida workers’ comp law. Permanent impairment benefits are paid at 75% of TTD, but they can be cut in half if you are earning pre-injury wages. The number of weeks you can receive permanent impairment benefits depends on your impairment rating and ranges from two weeks for a 1% impairment rating up to 385 weeks for a 75% impairment rating.
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Permanent Total Disability (PTD) – If your injury never improves to the point where you can return to work, you can receive PTD up to age 75 or longer if your injury kept you from becoming eligible for Social Security benefits. Some injuries, such as severe paralysis, the loss of a limb, severe burns or blindness, are presumed to be permanently and totally disabling. For others, you must be able to prove that you cannot engage in even sedentary employment within a 50-mile radius of your residence.
Reemployment Services
If because of your work injury you are no longer able to return to the same job or type of work you did before the accident, you might be eligible for reemployment services paid for by workers’ comp. These services can include vocational counseling, transferable skills analysis, job-seeking skills, job placement, on-the-job training, and formal retraining.
Contact the Franco Law Firm Today
Employers and their workers’ compensation insurance carriers do everything they can to avoid paying what they owe. They’ll dispute or deny your claims, and once they do start paying benefits, they’ll constantly evaluate your condition and terminate your benefits at the earliest possible moment, sometimes wrongfully. Franco Law Firm can help with all of that. Our attorneys and staff are knowledgeable, skilled, and dedicated to helping workers injured on the job, and we have a record of success and satisfied clients that demonstrate we know what we are doing. If you are having trouble getting the benefits due to you under a workers’ compensation claim, contact our experienced Tampa workers’ compensation benefits lawyer today by calling 813-872-0929 for a free consultation.
