Workers’ Comp
When you’re hurt at work.
If you become injured at work or ill due to your job, you may qualify for Workers’ Compensation benefits. In Washington, this is also known as Industrial Insurance. This insurance is provided in a program run by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I).
This program is very complex so you are strongly encouraged to:
- Immediately report the injury or illness to your employer,
- Immediately contact an experienced attorney, such as Tim Hamill of Bothwell and Hamill.
An experienced Workers' Compensation attorney will help ensure that the necessary evidence is submitted for claim allowance and that all your rights are protected. Your lawyer can often help you obtain more benefits for a longer period of time.
What health care services are covered?
If your claim is accepted, L&I pays for all "proper and necessary" medical care, including your doctor, hospital, surgical, pharmacy and other health care services. Medical care must be diagnostic, curative or rehabilitative to be considered. These services are provided until your work-related injury has stabilized and reached a point where further recovery is not expected.
In specific circumstances, L&I will cover other services including emergency ambulance service, special or home nursing care, dental repair, convalescent center care, glasses, hearing aids, crutches, braces, and prostheses.
Attorney Tim Hamill can help explain to you the medical care to which you are entitled. He can also ensure that you see the qualified doctors of your choosing.
You are entitled to lost wages.
If you cannot work due to your job-related injury or illness, you are entitled to lost wages, known as "time-loss compensation."
The amount of your time-loss benefit check is 60 to 75 percent of your total wages and certain benefits, depending on your marital status and number of dependent children you have when you are injured. If you are able to work, but your earning capacity has been reduced, you are entitled to "loss of earning power" benefits. Wage loss benefits must be calculated using a complicated formula. Your receipt of other government benefits (such as Social Security) will also affect the amount of lost wages.
Ask Tim Hamill to check your check amount!
If your claim manager makes a mistake in the complicated formula for your time-loss compensation, you only have 60 days to notify the Department of L&I in writing about the error!
As Workers' Compensation attorney Tim Hamill says, "Every decision has a deadline to appeal that decision or it becomes final!" You want an attorney like Tim on your side, speaking up for you at every step.
For a FREE consultation about your Workers' Compensation case, contact Bothwell & Hamill. There is no attorney fee unless the attorney can help you.
