Minnesota Lawyers Helping Injured Workers

Is your surgery covered by workers’ compensation?

On Behalf of | Jan 6, 2023 | WC - Work Comp News |

For a hip replacement or other major surgery to qualify for workers’ compensation in Minnesota, it must have been caused by activities performed at work. The injury is also covered if the work activities exacerbated the condition or made it get worse at a faster pace.

Consequential injuries and long-term disability

It’s often not just one injury that’s sustained from a single workplace incident. But even if only one injury occurred, there may still be consequential injuries that happen after the fact. Workers’ compensation is supposed to cover these too, provided you can prove that they stemmed from the initial work-related injury.

Although specific policies have their own rules, you can usually qualify for long-term disability benefits from work-related illnesses and injuries as well. It all depends on the way that it’s worded in your policy, so it’s worth reviewing if you’re not sure what benefits you’re entitled to.

With major surgical procedures like ankle, shoulder, knee or hip replacement, the recovery period is extensive. This makes it highly common for secondary injuries and illnesses to occur that may further prevent the employee from coming back to work.

Proving you’re unable to return to work

In general, illnesses and injuries that get in the way of workers carrying out the duties of their job for a significant time frame will usually qualify. Still, it’s not always easy to prove that you meet these qualifications. It sometimes turns into an uphill battle trying to get the benefits to continue throughout the entire period that you’re recovering.

In addition to the vast range of costs associated with ankle, shoulder, knee or hip replacement that workers’ compensation will cover, there are also resultant mental illnesses and injuries that qualify for benefits. Often, these mental illnesses and injuries are categorized as consequential injuries. This is because in many cases, the mental condition was the result of a physical injury sustained on the job.

It might happen in the process of recovering from one of these major surgeries when it’s common to develop mental health issues like depression. If that happens, workers’ compensation is supposed to pay for both the costs associated with the physical injury as well as the mental issues that came as a result.

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