When you are injured on the job it’s natural to think that your employer should take care of everything, right? After all, you were working for their company, doing the job they hired you to do and you were injured in the scope of those duties through no fault of your own. The answer to that question may not be so simple. We are going to follow a scenario through with information and advice from our lawyer, Ty Wilson. Our main question in this scenario will be “should the employer pay the medical bills?”
Cindy works at a small accounting firm. She is one of only 2 employees there; she and another accountant. Cindy falls at work one day and is injured. Her employer offers to pay everything for her so she will get better. Cindy is wondering “should the employer pay the medical bills?” She calls Ty who is an experienced Georgia workers compensation attorney. The question that he is considering for us is, “Is it the responsibility of the employer to pay for your medical bills?”
Ty explains that workers’ comp is an insurance company but that not all employers are “subject to the workers’ compensation act” and therefore not all of them are required to have Workers’ Compensation Insurance. He says that generally a good guide would be whether Cindy’s employer has three or more employees. If so, then it’s more likely that they would be subject to the act and should carry workers’ comp insurance.
Cindy explains that there are just two employees but there are temporary employees during tax season when they get very busy. Ty explains that the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation can answer the question on this company. They have what is called a coverage unit. By providing your employer’s name and address, they should be able to tell you if there is workers’ compensation insurance coverage.
In this scenario, Cindy just wants to make sure her employer isn’t paying for something that an insurance company should be paying. Her medical bills are a bit higher than she anticipated and wonders if filing on her health insurance would be the better way to do this. This is a trickier question because health insurance will likely ask how the accident happened and the answer of “I fell at work” or “it happened at work” can result in a denial of coverage on that claim.
Typically, when there is no workers’ comp insurance, the employer will pay for the medical bills on an employee’s injuries. If you have been in a situation like this and you are unsure how to proceed, contact Ty. He can provide a case review and help you make the right decisions up front, where it matters.
