Why workers’ compensation coverage can be better than health insurance

Employees with work injuries don’t always seek out Maryland workers’ compensation benefits despite potentially being eligible for them. Workers’ compensation can theoretically help most workers with job-acquired health challenges, including traumatic injuries and repetitive stress disorders.

Some people convince themselves that filing a claim would be inconvenient for them or expensive for their employers and forgo the pursuit of benefits. Especially if someone has decent health insurance provided by their employer, they might simply try to receive treatment without disclosing that the injury occurred on the job. This common mistake made by some Maryland workers can actually have financial consequences.

Health insurance requires patient payments

Patient responsibility costs have consistently risen over the years. Long gone are the days when a patient only paid a small copay for certain types of appointments. Modern insurance policies often include large deductibles in addition to co-pays. Many people could also be responsible for coinsurance costs as well.

Deductibles can be thousands of dollars in many cases, meaning that people have to pay for their own care before they receive any insurance coverage. They may need to continue paying co-pays until they reach their out-of-pocket maximum amount.

They may also need to pay co-insurance which makes them responsible for a specific percentage of their care costs. Some policies, for example, might require that a patient pays 30% of their non-emergency care costs or even more than that for certain types of treatment. Those costs can add up and create major financial challenges at the exact same time that a worker needs to take leave from their employment.

Not only can workers who pursue workers’ compensation benefits get full coverage for their medical care, but they can also obtain disability benefits if they cannot work while healing from their injury or medical condition. They can receive wage replacement disability benefits until they improve enough to get back to work.

While there is some red tape involved in a Maryland workers’ compensation claim, many people find that such claims are a worthwhile pursuit because of the benefits available. Learning more about the value of workers’ compensation benefits may inspire more people to file claims when they qualify.