Thousands of people working in the Asheville area suffer injuries on the job each year, and almost every employer in North Carolina is required to have workers’ compensation insurance for these situations. If you were injured while working, an Asheville medical benefits lawyer can help you navigate the workers’ compensation claim filing process and ensure that you receive a fair determination of benefits that addresses your need for medical care after your injury.
Ganly & Ramer, P.L.L.C. offers compassionate and responsive legal counsel to injured workers in all industries throughout the Asheville area. We can help you understand your rights and your legal options for recovering from any type of injury at work, and the sooner you contact our firm the more time we will have to allocate to handling your case.
One of the biggest concerns an injured worker has after a work accident is how he or she will pay for their medical costs. Immediate medical expenses such as emergency room bills, surgery costs as well as post-accident care including follow-up appointments, medications and rehabilitation can add up very quickly. Seeing medical bills stack up is overwhelming in what is an already stressful situation.
In North Carolina, employers should have a workers’ compensation insurance carrier that covers medical benefits. As to specific legal advice for your own work accident, it is important to consult with one of our lawyers at Ganly & Ramer, P.L.L.C..
Medical care can be covered either through the insurance carrier or also through what is known as a self-insurance fund through your employer. However, what can be difficult is that there can be limitations placed on what provider you use and what can be covered. For example, some carriers will not cover a chiropractic appointment. There are options to appeal this, such as filing with the North Carolina Industrial Commission. Our law firm can help you with this and other legal issues related to your work injury.
Filing a workers’ compensation claim follows a process similar to that of any other type of insurance claim. However, you face an additional layer of complexity because of the role your employer plays in this process. Employers are legally required to facilitate their injured workers’ claims for workers’ compensation benefits, but not all employers fulfill this obligation, and some actively work against their injured workers.
It is also possible for an injured worker to encounter problems with an insurance carrier. They may attempt to delay the claim, try to justify a lowball settlement offer, or claim that the injured worker does not qualify for benefits because of how the injury occurred. It is also possible for an insurance company to act in bad faith, engaging in unethical tactics in their efforts to avoid paying out a fair settlement.
As part of the claim filing process, an injured worker will need to see a workers’ compensation doctor for a formal evaluation. This doctor will assess the severity of the injury and assign a disability rating, and this rating will be a major factor in the injured worker’s benefit determination. If you disagree with the doctor’s assessment of your condition, your Asheville medical benefits lawyer can help you arrange for a second opinion from a different doctor.
Once you have completed the preliminary requirements for your claim, you can submit the claim to the insurance carrier for their review. Your Asheville medical benefits lawyer is the optimal resource to have on your side to ensure that all the medical care you need will be covered by the insurance company. They will be able to help you resolve any disputes you encounter regarding your claim and the medical benefits the insurance company refuses to cover.
One of the benefits that your employer’s workers’ compensation carrier should provide is medical. What can be very frustrating is when certain medical care or medication is denied. That is why it is imperative that you have a workers’ compensation attorney in North Carolina help you with this issue and with your entire workers’ comp claims process.
At Ganly & Ramer, P.L.L.C., our workers’ compensation lawyer is very experienced and skilled at helping injured clients throughout North Carolina with their claims. Whether you are making an initial filing for coverage or you are appealing, our dedicated attorney will be there for you every step of the way. For questions about medical benefits and workers’ comp or another workers’ comp issue, please reach out to us online. We offer free initial consultations.
The team at Ganly & Ramer, P.L.L.C. has successfully resolved many work injury claims for our clients throughout the Asheville area, including cases in which medical benefits have been unfairly denied or improperly billed. Navigating the legal overlap between workers’ compensation insurance, health insurance, and the other legal issues you face in the aftermath of your injury will be much easier with an attorney’s help.
We can help you file your claim and resolve any disputes raised against you, ensuring that you receive appropriate coverage for your medical expenses after an injury at work. Depending on how your injury happened, you could have grounds to pursue additional legal recourse outside of the workers’ compensation insurance system. Whatever your case requires, you can trust our team to provide ongoing support through all stages of your recovery efforts.
A: Workers’ compensation insurance provides medical benefit compensation that should cover all of your medical treatment costs related to your work injury. Every employer in North Carolina is required to have workers’ compensation insurance, and this insurance is meant to be a financial safety net for workers injured on the job. A claimant can also receive disability benefits during the time they are unable to work because of their injury.
A: A disability rating in a workers’ compensation case is a numerical value that represents the severity of the harm an injured worker experiences on the job. A medical evaluation from a workers’ compensation doctor will be an essential step in filing your workers’ compensation claim, and this doctor will assign you a disability rating that will influence how much compensation you receive from the insurance company.
A: No, you do not need to prove fault for a workers’ compensation claim. It is possible to have caused your own injury and still qualify to receive benefits as long as the accident happened while you were working in good faith. You will, however, need to prove fault if you intend to pursue a personal injury suit in response to an injury at work, and you will need to prove the defendant is entirely responsible for your damages to succeed with this case.
A: You should hire an Asheville medical benefits lawyer because navigating any workers’ compensation case may be far more challenging than you initially expected. Having experienced legal counsel on your side means you will be prepared for any unexpected challenges you encounter as you seek the benefits you are legally owed for your injury at work, and your attorney can help you maximize your benefits.
A: The cost to hire an Asheville medical benefits lawyer will depend on the total value of your claim if you choose Ganly & Ramer, P.L.L.C. to represent you. We take work injury cases on a contingency basis, meaning you only pay a percentage of your final case award as our fee if and when we win your case. There are no upfront legal fees, and you pay nothing if our team is unable to obtain compensation on your behalf.
An Asheville medical benefits lawyer can help you navigate the workers’ compensation claim filing process more easily and help you get the benefits you need to recover as fully as possible from your injury at work. If you are interested in finding out how we can help you with your workers’ compensation claim in North Carolina, please call Ganly & Ramer, P.L.L.C.‘s Asheville office at 828-844-5274 or contact us online to schedule a free initial consultation.
"*" indicates required fields