As just about any Missouri workers comp attorney will tell you, Missouri workers compensation laws have evolved to favor employers and the workers’ compensation insurance companies that represent them. Insurance company lobbyists in Jeff City have used their skills to convince the Missouri state legislature to write the Missouri workers compensation laws with them in mind.
One of the main ways the Missouri work comp laws favor the employer and their insurance companies is by giving the employer (usually directed by the insurance company) and not you, the injured worker, the right to select the health care providers and physicians who will evaluate and treat you for your work injuries.
This becomes a problem when the workers’ compensation insurance companies select doctors who they work with on a regular basis. Many of these doctors make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year off of these referrals from the insurance companies. This is big business for doctors and hospitals, meaning the doctors and hospitals have a vested interest in keeping the work comp insurance carriers happy.
The Missouri work comp insurance companies choose these doctors because they will evaluate and try to find as little as possible wrong with an injured worker. If they do find something wrong with you, many of these doctors will try whenever possible to blame your injuries on some pre-existing conditions or the fact you are getting older.
Unfortunately, many of these health care providers will also try to send you back to work as soon as possible doing light duty, or even full duty work, long before you are ready and have recovered from your injuries. A Missouri workers comp lawyer would fight to make sure that this does not happen to you when the facts support you. Often this will take a legal fight in the Missouri Department of Labor Division of Workers Compensation.
As a worker injured on the job, you have the burden of proving you are entitled to Missouri workers compensation benefits. Missouri work comp benefits can include medical treatment benefits, temporary wage loss benefits, and permanent disability money benefits. Therefore, you need to search for top workers compensation lawyers in Missouri and find a good work comp attorney to be on your side fighting to get you every benefit you deserve. Don’t confuse the friendly adjuster or “nice” attorney hired by the insurance company as someone who has you and your family’s best interest at heart. They do not. This is purely a business transaction for them.