Every new job opportunity comes with a degree of risk. Employees can potentially get hurt while working, and their injuries could affect their health, as well as their finances. Businesses typically have a responsibility to protect workers against job-related safety hazards. Specifically, companies need to comply with workplace safety statutes. They also need to maintain workers’ compensation insurance coverage for the protection of their employees.
If someone gets hurt in a sudden incident at work, such as a fall off of a ladder, they may qualify for workers’ compensation benefits. An employee who has recently diagnosed with a health issue directly caused by their work, like carpal tunnel syndrome, might also potentially qualify for benefits. It is possible to group the benefits available into three primary categories.
Medical benefits
Quite a few professionals in Massachusetts have health insurance, and they may not believe that they require workers’ compensation medical coverage. However, the medical coverage available through workers’ compensation is more complete than the average health insurance policy. There is no deductible to meet or coinsurance to pay. Workers’ compensation can cover the full cost of someone’s medically necessary treatment.
Disability benefits
An injury or job-acquired illness can affect someone’s income in several different ways. Their health challenges might prevent them from working temporarily while they heal. An employee could potentially qualify for temporary total disability benefits if they require time away from work because of their medical condition.
If a worker can return to work but cannot continue in a well-paid profession, they may qualify for partial disability benefits. Those benefits can help reduce the difference between someone’s prior income level and their current wages. If the medical challenges caused by someone’s employment are so severe that they cannot work at all, then permanent total disability benefits could help replace someone’s wages until they reach retirement age.
Death and funeral benefits
Sometimes, the party seeking workers’ compensation coverage is not an injured employee but a surviving family member. When a health issue caused by someone’s employment leads to a premature death, those left behind may have various expenses to address. The benefits available through workers’ compensation can pay for someone’s medical treatment prior to their death. Surviving dependent family members might also receive wage replacement benefits. There are also funeral benefits that can help cover up to $4,000 worth of funeral or burial costs.
Pursuing a workers’ compensation claim when an injured employee – or their surviving loved ones – are eligible for coverage, and are deserving of benefits, is generally wise. Learning more about the Massachusetts workers’ compensation program may benefit those in dangerous professions and also their family members accordingly.