Non-Medical Expenses Covered by Workers’ Compensation in Georgia
The baseline purpose of workers’ compensation insurance is to cover the expenses that employees incur in the event of an on-the-job injury. Many people believe workers’ compensation benefits are limited strictly to medical costs, but this is not the case in the state of Georgia. With a successful workers’ compensation claim, handled by a skilled workers’ compensation attorney, you could receive additional benefits to pay for other, non-medical expenses.
Transportation Costs
To recover from a work-related injury, you will likely need to go on multiple doctors’ office visits for treatment and examination. The cost of traveling to and from medical appointments is a separate expense in itself. Workers’ compensation should cover the cost to you to travel back and forth to medical appointments, to therapy and to the pharmacy, or the insurance provider could provide a transportation company, depending on your specific claim and medical needs, but the insurance company sometimes does not make this benefit known to the injured employee.
Benefits for Lost Wages
Georgia workers’ compensation benefits can include disability benefits which are two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to a maximum of $675.00 per week for injuries that occur after July 1, 2019. These income benefits continue while you are unable to work due to your injury, according to your workers’ compensation doctor. If you are able to work but because of your injury you are making less money, you may be eligible for temporary total disability payments which are calculated at two-thirds of the difference in your average weekly wage before your injury and the wage you are paid after your injury, with a maximum payment of $450 per week.
Does Georgia Workers’ Compensation Provide Damages for Pain and Suffering?
A non-medical expense that Georgia workers’ compensation does not cover is the “cost” of pain and suffering. An on-the-job injury has a major emotional cost, but the state’s system does not account for the loss of anything other than income and the cost of medical treatment. However, if your claim is handled by an experienced and compassionate attorney, recovering what you have lost and getting the maximum benefits need to recover from your injury will often lessen the emotional toll that goes along with nearly every workers’ compensation claim.
Get the Compensation You Deserve
Under Georgia’s workers’ compensation laws, you could be entitled to coverage of all of your injury-related expenses — not just medical bills. However, eligibility to receive those benefits will depend on your claim. Workers’ compensation claims must be completed thoroughly and accurately to be successful. At Whiteman, Hamilton & Conklin, LLC, we help injured workers get all of the benefits they deserve.
Call 770-450-6450 or send us a message to get your free initial consultation with one of our attorneys today.
