Who Pays South Carolina Workers Compensation Benefits?

South Carolina Workers’ Compensation benefits are awarded to employees who are injured on the job.

What Type of South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Benefits Can An Injured Worker Expect to Receive?

Medical Treatment

An employee who is hurt on the job in South Carolina is entitled to receive medical treatment for his or her work injury until the treating medical doctor determines you are at maximum medical improvement as part of his/her South Carolina workers compensation benefits. This means that your medical treatment has reached a point where your condition will remain the same and is not likely to improve.

Medical treatment may also be needed after reaching maximum medical improvement in order to maintain your functioning at that level. If this is the case, the employer’s insurance company is also responsible for any further treatment that may prevent the employee’s condition from becoming worse. It is important to understand that in South Carolina, an  employer is entitled to select the medical doctor who will provide care related to your workers compensation claim.

In addition to receiving medical treatment, A South Carolina employee who is injured on the job and receiving South Carolina workers’ compensation benefits is also entitled to reimbursement for all medical-related expenses related to the injury. This includes mileage traveling to and from the doctor’s office, over-the-counter, and prescription medicines.

If you were hurt on the job in South Carolina, it is extremely important to keep all of your medical bills, receipts for prescriptions and medication, as well as any notes from your doctor related to his or her recommended course of treatment. This will help ensure that you are completely reimbursed for your medical expenses and receive these South Carolina workers’ compensation benefits.

If there is a dispute over access to specialists or treatment options, you should strongly consider hiring a Columbia, South Carolina workers compensation attorney.  Your SC workers comp attorney can file a claim/ request a hearing with the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission and fight for your South Carolina workers’ compensation benefits. If you are having trouble securing the medical treatment that you need, our South Carolina workers compensation attorneys offer a free case evaluation to help you understand your options.

Financial Compensation

You will be paid once a week at a reduced rate while you are recovering from your injury.

A medical doctor must authorize you to be out of work in order for you to receive any South Carolina Workers’ Compensation benefits. If your appointed medical doctor tells you that you must remain out of work for over 7 days, you should receive weekly benefits beginning on the 8th day. However, if you remain out of work for more than 14 days, you are allowed to receive weekly benefits beginning the first day your doctor took you out of work. This is known as the waiting period.

All injured workers will receive 2/3 of their normal weekly wages as determined based upon the four quarters preceding your injury. If you were working two or more jobs at the time of the accident, compensation received from both jobs will be included as part of the average weekly wage and compensation rate. The compensation rate is subject to a maximum amount set by the South Carolina Workers Compensation Commission.

How Long Will Benefits Last?

The length of time set for your weekly financial benefits is determined upon your disability or impairment designation. Your disability designation is based on reports from your medical doctor, assigned to you by your employers Workmans’ Comp Insurer. Other doctors you selected from their network, including specialists, also contribute to the final outcome of your designation. (You can dispute your designation.)

What is My South Carolina Workers Compensation Case Worth?

In South Carolina, there are specific compensation amounts tied to each loss (eyesight, limb, finger, use of back) and disfigurement, as written into the S.C. Code of Laws, Sect. 42, Ch 9.

If you’ve been denied workers’ comp benefits contact Strom Law for immediate help.

Workmans’ Comp Designations include:

Total Disability Benefits (Temporary or Permanent)

Total disability is defined as a complete inability to work, whether this inability is temporary or proves to be permanent. Under South Carolina workers compensation laws, total disability benefits may be approved for a maximum of 500 weeks at the standard Workers’ Comp rate of sixty-six and 2/3 percent of your average weekly income.

A disabled employee may also apply for Social Security Disability Benefits under certain conditions.

Lifetime Benefits:

If you have been hurt on the job and your injuries have left you totally and permanently disabled, South Carolina workers compensation benefits will be paid for life. On the job injuries which lead to lifetime benefits may include an accident which leaves you a paraplegic, a quadriplegic, or with physical brain damage. The five-hundred-week limitation does not apply.

Partial Disability Benefits (Temporary or Permanent)

Most often, a partial disability designation is reached following improvement from a total disability designation.  If you are partially disabled, you may not be able to perform in the same job.

In the case of partial disability, the employer is responsible for paying a weekly compensation that will equal 66 and 2/3% of the difference between the employee’s average weekly wage before the his or her injury and the average weekly wage the employee will be able to earn after his or her injury. As the employee, you will be entitled to this additional compensation for a maximum of 340 weeks.

To initiate partial disability benefits, your doctor will release you to return to light duty or work part-time while you are recovering from a workplace injury.

If you disagree with this work release and feel it would increase pain or worsen your condition, you will have to file a claim with the SC Workers’ Comp Commission to request a hearing on the dispute. If you have been hurt on the job, and do not feel that you should return to work, you contact our South Carolina workers compensation attorneys.  for a no-cost consultation. We’ll even answer your questions over the phone.

South Carolina Workers Compensation Death Benefits

In South Carolina, workers’ compensation allows for financial benefits to dependents or parents of a deceased employee. Learn More about Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits.

The Strom Law Firm, LLC understands the impact that a work related injury or death has upon you and your loved ones. The most important thing you need to focus on is a speedy recovery. You need an advocate who will seek justice on your behalf.