By Donna Motley, Director of Claims

Late reporting of employee injuries can be costly in multiple ways.

We received a claim on August 16, 2013 for a July 3, 2013 injury date – approximately 6 weeks after the injury allegedly occurred. The employee said they “bumped” their elbow on a part. The diagnosis was “post traumatic olecranon bursitis”. The employee did not lose time from work. The employee treated for the condition on July 3, 2013 (the day of injury), July 8, 11, 22, 29, and October 8, 2013 when they were discharged from care.

Notice there were five visits with the medical provider before we even received the injury report. Per the Workers’ Compensation Act, the W/C provider/insurance carrier exclusively directs all medical treatment for the first 28 days! In this particular case, we lost that opportunity. Could we have shortened the length of this claim and thereby the amount spent – very likely!

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By Cindy Boyce, Senior Claims Adjustor

In the majority of Workers’ Compensation cases employees who are injured at work recover and return to work. In some cases employees do not return to work claiming that they are still disabled from the work injury. A small percentage will end up in court and enter into litigation by filing an Application for Hearing. Shortly after the Application is filed, it is processed by the Workers’ Compensation Agency and the employer will be served with an Acknowledgement and Notice of Hearing. Below are a few recommendations that will assist you in understanding the litigation procedure.

1. Once a claim is disputed, the employee may resort to filing an Application for Hearing.

When you are served with the Acknowledgement and Notice of Hearing, you will note the Magistrate assigned to hear the case, the hearing site and the date of the initial pretrial hearing. In most cases, the adjuster will also be served. However, it is recommended that you contact MTMIC upon receipt of the Application to confirm that we have been served.

Once we receive the Application for Hearing, we will retain an attorney to represent your company’s legal interests.

In most cases you will not be required to attend the pretrial or subsequent hearings unless we have notified you otherwise.

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