While most workers’ compensation claims involve traumatic injuries suffered in the workplace, the insurance program for employees also covers occupational diseases. An occupational disease is any ailment that arises out of an individual’s employment.
Workers’ compensation is insurance that most employers are required to purchase to protect their employees. It provides benefits to employees who have developed work-related injuries or been diagnosed with an occupational disease. Workers’ comp benefits include:
- All medical expenses related to the treatment of the disease, including reimbursement for the cost of prescription drugs, medical devices, and travel to and from medical appointments
- Payment of a portion of average weekly wages
- Stipends for retraining to return to work.
If you are diagnosed with an illness related to your employment and cannot return to your current job, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. If you are in Kentucky and have questions about the benefits available to you, contact a workers’ compensation lawyer at Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer.
Our attorneys are known for their Kentucky Courage when standing up to big insurance companies on behalf of injured people. Our law firm has recovered more than $300 million in workers’ compensation benefits for our hardworking Kentucky clients. We are ready to fight for you.
What Is Occupational Disease?
Under Kentucky workers’ compensation law (KRS 342.0011), an occupational disease is one for which it is reasonable to draw a connection between the conditions under which the employees work and the disease. The disease can be traced to the employment as the most closely related cause.
In a typical year, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP) is the most common occupational disease cited by Kentuckians in applications for workers’ compensation benefits based on a disease diagnosis. Of the 285 occupational disease benefits applications filed in 2020-2021, 259 were for coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (90%).
It may not surprise you that in 2020-2021, the most common cause of first-time reports of work-related injury for workers’ comp was COVID-19. The 12,646 cases of work-related COVID-19 topped the second-most common first report, injuries caused by falls or slips (6,597), and No. 3, injuries caused by lifting (2,767), according to the Department of Workers’ Claims’ (DWC) annual report.
A full list of occupational diseases that may qualify a worker for workers’ compensation is lengthy. The International Labour Organization maintains an extensive and widely recognized ILO List of Occupational Diseases. Since the first ILO list in 1925, it has played a key role in aligning policies on occupational diseases among industrialized countries.
When Can You Seek Workers’ Compensation for an Occupational Disease?
An employee is eligible for workers’ compensation benefits once an injury or disease has forced the individual to miss work for seven days. After missing seven days of work, you are eligible for temporary disability payments equivalent to two-thirds of your weekly wages while you remain out of work, in addition to payment of your medical expenses. When you have been out of work for 14 days, you can obtain disability payment for the first seven days you were out of work.
You should notify your employer immediately if you have been diagnosed with a disease that will force you to miss work for an extended period of time.
It is up to the employee to file for workers’ compensation benefits, but the system is not very easy to navigate. You are likely to encounter procedural issues and other technicalities that make it complicated to obtain the benefits you need.
The Kentucky Labor Cabinet’s workers’ compensation page for injured employees says twice that, “Due to the complexity of the claims process, most injured workers hire an attorney to file a workers’ compensation claim for them.”
Contact a KY Workers’ Comp Attorney
Don’t risk a mistake in your workers’ compensation benefits application that causes delays or leads to a denial of the workers’ comp benefits you need. A Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer workers’ compensation lawyer will focus on your claim so you can focus on getting better.
We’ll help you seek the maximum workers’ compensation benefits available as we have with many others. We consider it a privilege to use our legal skills to help our fellow Kentuckians. Contact us now to schedule your free consultation.
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