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Can Workers’ Compensation Benefits Expire Before You’re Fully Healed?

Posted by Liz Delsa | Sep 30, 2024 | 0 Comments

There are two main types of workers' compensation benefits in Louisiana – medical benefits and indemnity benefits. If you've been injured in a workplace accident, both of these types of benefits can be extremely important, especially where your injuries are extensive and will keep you from working for an extended period. But how long will the coverage continue, and what happens if you haven't healed and are unable to work again when the benefits expire?

Indemnity Benefits

In Louisiana, there are different types of indemnity benefits that can be paid to injured workers. The main types are:

· Temporary Total Disability (TTD): this benefit is paid to workers who are temporarily unable to engage in any employment due to their work accident. There is no specific time limit for TTD benefits to cease. However, in most cases, if you are unable to work for an extended period of time, your TTD benefits will be replaced by Permanent Total Disability.

· Permanent Total Disability (PTD): this benefit is paid to workers who are permanently unable to engage in any employment due to their work injury. This benefit is paid for the remainder of the injured worker's life.

· Supplemental Earnings Benefits (SEB): these benefits are paid to workers who are unable to earn 90% or more of their pre-accident average weekly wage rate due to their work injury. The maximum length of time you can receive SEB payments is 10 years (520 weeks), and if you received TTD

benefits after you were injured, the length of time you received those benefits will be deducted from the 10-year SEB period.

Medical Benefits

You typically have one year from the accident date to file for medical benefits. Once your employer and/or its workers' compensation carrier has paid medical benefits for your accident, you have three years from the date of the last payment for medical treatment to continue to be entitled to additional medical benefits. Louisiana law does not limit the length of time during which you can receive workers' compensation medical benefits for a workplace injury as long as the medical treatment is necessary and related to your work injury.

The Delsa Law Firm, LLC, Can Help You Claim and Keep Your Workers' Comp Benefits

It's not unusual for an employer or their insurance carrier to dispute claims for initial workers' compensation benefits or to attempt to end those benefits when they continue to be paid for an extended period – even if you're not yet fully healed. In both cases, the Delsa Law Firm, LLC, can help you receive the benefits you're entitled to under Louisiana law. Attorney Delsa understands Louisiana's complicated workers' compensation laws and procedures and has years of experience battling insurers and employers who try to pay out as little as possible when an employee is injured in an on-the-job accident.

Call the Delsa Law Firm, LLC, today if you have questions about your workers' compensation benefits or are having problems getting your claim approved. We're located in Slidell just off of I-10, near the intersection of I-10, I-12, and I-59, and you can call us at (985) 882-1222 or use our contact form to set up a free, confidential consultation.

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