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Findgreatlawyers.com is a free service, run by Illinois lawyers, to find an attorney or obtain guidance for any Illinois legal matter, including Illinois workers’ compensation cases. Our founding attorneys are Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers and we are able to help people that contact us with work injury questions probably better than in any area of law that we help with. Please call us at (312) 346-5320 or (800) 517-1614 or fill out our contact us form and we will contact you. All inquiries are kept in strict confidence.

For all work related injuries covered under the laws of Illinois, an injured worker is entitled to receive 100% of reasonable, necessary and related medical expenses. Whether a medical expense is related, reasonable and/or necessary is ultimately up to the Arbitrator of the case, but in general it should include visits to the doctor, prescriptions, diagnostic tests, physical therapy and anything that is prescribed by a doctor for the work injury. This can include, depending on the actual injury, special pillows, health club memberships, wheel chairs or anything else that is deemed medically necessary.

When we say that 100% of the expenses should be covered, that means no co-pays and no out of pocket expenses of any kind. Also, there are no deductibles in Illinois workers compensation claims. The insurance company is free to negotiate a reduction of payment with a medical provider, but the medical provider can not then pass those costs on to the injured worker.

In Illinois, an injured worker is allowed to primarily go to a doctor of their own choosing and is entitled to two (2) chains of medical referrals. For example, if you get hurt and go to your doctor and he sends you for an x-ray, and then physical therapy and ultimately refers you to an orthopedic surgeon, that would be considered one chain of referrals. At any point you can request a 2nd opinion which would start a whole new chain of referrals. Once an injured worker goes outside the two chains of medical referrals they are responsible for the payment of those bills. Bottom line for an injured worker in Illinois, if you are going to see a new medical provider, get a referral from your physician!

The employer has a right to send an injured worker to a doctor of their own choosing. This is called an Independent Medical Exam (IME). No matter the findings of this doctor, those expenses must be paid for by the employer.

This was a brief overview of work injury medical benefits in the state of Illinois. Our founding attorneys are Illinois workers compensation lawyers. If you have any questions or would like a referral, please contact us.

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