Minnesota workers' comp laws may limit employers' liabilities | Coon ...

Workers in Coon Rapids and throughout the entire state of Minnesota may be well aware that if they do become injured in an accident at work, they may be eligible for workers' compensation benefits. These benefits are paid by employers' insurance companies and may cover medical expenses, disability costs and time off of work.

Once injured workers locate the Employee Rights and Responsibilities poster that is often displayed on work communication boards by employers, folks should be able to find the information they need to start the process of filing a workers' compensation claim. However, workers' compensation laws are complex, and before workers make any decisions that could affect the amount of benefits they may be entitled to after an accident, they may want to consider seeking guidance from an attorney in order to make sure they receive the benefits they need and deserve.

Recently, a worker who became injured in Minnesota was denied additional medical benefits by the Minnesota Supreme Court because she failed to acknowledge a statute that places limits on an employer's liability to pay medical benefits when an injured worker seeks treatment in a state other than Minnesota.

The higher court's ruling came after the injured worker claimed that her workers' compensation benefits had failed to cover all of her medical expenses resulting from an injury. When the woman was injured, she had been living and working in Minnesota. She suffered injuries after becoming involved in a car accident while she was on the job. After the accident, she moved to Wyoming and received additional treatment for her injuries at a medical facility in that state.

When the woman submitted a claim to be compensated for her out-of-state treatment, she was only partly compensated. According to a Minnesota statute, employers may use out-of-state workers' compensation fee schedules when employees seek medical treatment in a different state. Sometimes this works out to be less than what an employee would have received had the employee been treated in Minnesota.

The injured worker claimed that she should have been compensated for her entire medical expenses, but the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that her employer had provided her with the proper amount of benefits.

Source: Risk & Insurance, "Worker's arguments fail to increase payments to out-of-state provider," June 21, 2012

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