Construction and oilfield work are the most hazardous occupations in Texas, but you could be suddenly and seriously injured at any job. Even office workers sustain serious trip-and-fall injuries and back injuries.
If you sustain an injury at work in the San Antonio area and your employer carries workers’ compensation insurance, you may qualify to receive benefit payments that cover your medical expenses and partially replace your lost wages.

San Antonio workers’ compensation attorney Matthew S. Norris can guide you through the complicated workers’ compensation application process, and if your application for benefits is denied, he can appeal that decision on your behalf.

What Benefits Are Provided Through Workers’ Compensation?

Texas pays these four types of workers’ compensation benefits:

  1. Income benefits include temporary income benefits, supplemental income benefits, impairment income benefits, and lifetime income benefits.
  2. Medical benefits cover necessary and reasonable medical treatment for work-related injuries and illnesses.
  3. Burial benefits reimburse the party who pays for an employee’s funeral and burial costs.
  4. Death benefits replace some of what a family loses when an employee’s work-related injury or illness results in death.

How Are Temporary Income Benefits Paid?

If you’re injured while working for a Texas employer who carries workers’ compensation insurance, and if your work-related injury or illness causes you to lose some or all of your wages for more than seven days, you will almost certainly qualify for workers’ compensation temporary income benefits that partially replace your lost wages.

Workers’ comp in Texas currently pays employees who earn more than $10 an hour 70 percent of their wages, and workers who make less than $10 an hour are paid 75 percent of their wages. Temporary income benefit payments begin when your injury or illness has caused you to miss eight days from work. Temporary income benefit payments stop when:

  • A healthcare provider determines that no further healing or recovery can be expected (the point of “maximum medical improvement”).
  • You are once again able to earn the average weekly income you earned before you became ill or injured.
  • You reach the end of the temporary income benefits period at 104 weeks after your eighth day away from the job.

How Are Medical Benefits Paid?

As mentioned previously, workers’ compensation medical benefits cover necessary and reasonable medical treatment for work-related injuries and illnesses. Your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier pays your medical benefits directly to the medical professional or healthcare facility that provides your treatment. A doctor cannot bill you for treatment for a work-related illness or injury, although you may receive an information-only copy of the bill.

If your employer is in a healthcare network, you must use a doctor in that network. However, if you obtain treatment from a healthcare provider who is not in the network – without prior approval from the network – you may have to pay out-of-pocket for that treatment, unless that treatment is provided in an emergency situation. If you are not part of a healthcare network, in most cases, you’ll be allowed to select your own doctor.

What If You Are Impaired or Permanently Disabled?

If a doctor determines that your workplace accident has resulted in long-term impairment or permanent disability, you could receive long-term or even lifelong workers’ compensation payments. These benefit amounts vary depending on the nature of your impairment or disability, but even the maximum payments are quite modest. No one gets wealthy receiving workers’ comp benefits.

If your Texas employer does not carry workers’ compensation insurance and you are injured in a work-related accident, you will probably qualify to seek compensation through a personal injury lawsuit. San Antonio personal injury attorney in San Antonio Matthew S. Norris can answer your questions about workplace injuries, workers’ compensation, and personal injury lawsuits, and he will help you recover the compensation you need.

The Law Office of Matthew S. Norris will review your case without cost or obligation, and you’ll pay no attorney’s fee until and unless you receive compensation. If you’ve been injured in a work-related accident, call 210-549-7633, and our legal team will start working on your behalf.