How do I get my workers’ comp benefits paid?
Periodic payments or a lump sum? Settling your case is the hard part, but you’ll still need to work out how you receive your award.
The two broad categories of workers’ compensation benefits are medical benefits and wage replacement. Your medical bills are paid by workers’ compensation without your involvement. The doctor or hospital will bill your employer directly, and their workers’ comp insurance carrier will pay the bills. You won’t ever get a bill or have to pay out of pocket and worry about reimbursement.
You will also receive benefits in the form of wage loss replacement. How these benefits are paid depends on whether you are receiving temporary disability or permanent disability benefits.
Temporary disability
Temporary disability payments are made while you are recovering from your injury and either out of work or working on restricted duty (light duty) at a lower rate of pay. These payments are due to start within 14 days from when your employer is notified you have a work injury or illness and your treating physician says that you cannot perform your regular job due to the injury. Temporary disability payments are made every two weeks until your doctor clears you to return to work or decides you have reached maximum medical improvement and are permanently disabled. Temporary disability payments are also limited to 104 weeks of benefits in the five-year period since the injury.
Permanent disability
Permanent disability payments are made every two weeks. For permanent partial disability, the payments last for a fixed number of weeks depending on your disability rating. For permanent total disability, payments continue throughout your lifetime.
You can also settle your case and receive a lump sum of the remainder of payments due to you. A permanent disability settlement can be either a “compromise and release” (C&R) or a “stipulation with award” (Stips). With a C&R, you receive one lump sum payment covering all the permanent disability payments you are due but have not been paid yet. With a Stips, you and the insurance carrier decide together how long and how often you will continue to receive payments and how much those payments will be. These settlements must be reviewed and approved as adequate by the judge.
Other benefits you may be entitled to, such as the Supplemental Job Displacement Benefit or Return-to-Work Supplement Program, are paid in the form of a voucher or check. If you are unsure about how to structure your settlement or you are worried that you are not getting the proper amount of benefits due to you, share your concerns with your California workers’ compensation attorney who can make sure you are getting all the benefits you are owed and receiving them in the most advantageous way.
