What Happens if I Use Health Insurance Instead of Workers’ Comp After a Workplace Accident in Chicago?

After a workplace accident in Chicago, you may be tempted to simply rely on your health insurance to cover the cost of your treatment. After all, health insurance already covers your bills, so why fill out more forms than you need to? Before you take this step, consider speaking about the legal implications with an experienced workers’ comp attorney.

Workers’ Comp Gives You More

Although you might be more familiar with your own health insurance, workers’ comp almost always provides more than your insurance can ever hope to match. A valid workers’ comp claim should cover 100 percent of your medical bills, without any co-pays or deductibles. You simply file your claim, and workers’ comp should cover everything you need to heal and recover as well as possible.

In addition, a workers’ comp claim offers additional compensation for lost income. This is something a standard health insurance claim cannot match, and it allows you to rest without worrying about how you’re going to pay the bills. Although workers’ comp only provides two-thirds of your average wages, this income is tax-free. In other words, it should be roughly the same amount that you were receiving after tax deductions on your paychecks.

You Risk Your Insurer Coming After You for Money Later

Many health insurance policies specifically exclude work-related injuries from coverage. They might approve your claim at first, but once they figure out that your injuries stem from a work-related incident, they could ask you to pay back the money later on. You are then left with a highly stressful situation that requires you to file a workers’ compensation claim simply to reimburse your insurer. Obviously, it makes more sense to simply file a workers’ comp claim in the first place.

When It Might Make Sense to Consider Using Insurance

With all that said, there are some situations in which it might make sense to rely on your private insurance coverage after a workplace injury. Perhaps the most obvious example is a denied claim. If you were working as an independent contractor, you are not an “employee,” and workers’ compensation will not cover you. Speak with a lawyer about the possibility of misclassification, but you may need to rely on your own health insurance to get treatment.

You might also need to use your insurance if you’re facing a serious delay with your workers’ comp claim. In these situations, workers’ comp might not have approved an important surgery. If you have excellent insurance coverage anyway, you might prefer to move forward with the surgery and have it covered by your private insurance, especially if delays are making your health issues worse.

Can a Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Help Me?

Although it might seem tempting to simply use your health insurance to cover your bill, it almost always makes more sense to rely on a workers’ comp claim. This separate insurance system is supposed to cover all of your reasonably necessary medical bills after an accident. In addition, it can cover most of your lost income while you rest, something that health insurance fails to accomplish. Learn more by contacting the Chicago workers’ comp lawyers at Connolly Injury Law.