Today, I want to answer a question that clients will occasionally ask: can I reopen a closed workers’ compensation case?
If you’ve ever wondered, can I reopen a closed workers’ compensation case? it’s important to know that a workers’ compensation case can resolve in one of two ways.
The first way in which a workers’ compensation case can resolve is by means of an order-approving settlement, which involves a percentage of disability that provides a certain amount of money. With this type of case, you have a two-year window to reopen the case once you have received the final benefit — whether it’s payment or medical treatment. Now, if an insurance company sends you back to the doctor at some point down the road, the date of your final benefit is adjusted and your two-year window for reopening the case resets.
The second way in which a #workerscompensation case resolves is referred to as “section 20”, after the section in the workers’ compensation statute that allows a case to close forever after a settlement is reached. As you would imagine, section 20 cases cannot be reopened. It does not, however, prohibit you from reopening a new case related to a new #workplaceinjury in the future.
A workers’ compensation case, so long as it isn’t section 20, can be closed and reopened repeatedly — if, of course, you are able to prove that a worsening condition is related to the initial injury.
So, if you’re asking the question, can I reopen a closed #workerscompensationcase? the answer may be yes — but it’s critical that you keep track of dates. While you may be able to reopen a case within two years of your final benefit, you can no longer reopen a case once the clock ticks over to two years and one day.
It’s also important not to conflate the date of the court order with the date of your final benefit, as the insurance company is going to provide the benefit at some point after the court order. Even if it has been more than two years since the date of your court order, you may still be within two years of your final benefit — which gives you the ability to reopen the case.
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