The Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (Act) is very specific – a workers’ comp insurance carrier is responsible for the payment of all reasonable and necessary medical expenses, which are related to a work injury. As always, the devil is in the details. For example, is the payment of medical bills…
Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Lawyer Blog
Amendment of PA Work-Related Injury Not Barred
Back in 2008, we discussed the decision of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania in the matter of Weney v. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board (Mac Sprinkler Systems, Inc.) [Note that the formatting, with the WCAB listed as the party and the Employer in parentheses, has been reversed since this decision]. This…
PA Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Names Three New Workers’ Compensation Judges
We are excited to relay the news that the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, Office of Adjudication, has announced that there will be three new additions to the workers’ comp bench. Two will be serving the Philadelphia Workers’ Compensation Hearing Office and one will be in the Williamsport Workers’ Compensation…
Workers’ Compensation Judge Need Not Set Aside Erroneously Issued Notice of Compensation Payable
When a party files a document in the world of Pennsylvania workers’ compensation, it means something. As with most areas of the law, parties are bound by what is filed. So, a recent decision by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, addressing an attempt by a workers’ comp insurance carrier to…
IRE Must Consider All Medical Conditions “Due To” The Work Injury
As we have addressed in a previous blog post, discussing the case of City of Philadelphia v. Turner (Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board), a Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) cannot allow the conditions considered by an Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE) to be only those conditions formally accepted by the workers’ compensation insurance…
Brilliant & Neiman LLC Moving Offices!
Though we loved having our headquarters in Warminster, Pennsylvania, for more than the past decade, we strive to be accessible to injured workers across PA. Accordingly, we will no longer have an office in Warminster. We will be keeping our offices in Trevose/Feasterville, as well as Allentown, and opening a…
PA Supreme Court Upholds Coverage for all “Medicines and Supplies” Related to Work Injury
Back in November, 2023, we discussed the case of M.R. Schmidt v. Schmidt, Kirifides and Rassias, PC (Workers Compensation Appeal Board). As you may recall, this case addressed an issue regarding payment for CBD oil used in conjunction with treatment for a work-related injury. The Workers’ Compensation Judge (WCJ) ordered…
PA Workers’ Comp Insurer Fails to Prove Injured Worker Withdrew From Labor Market
While we do not typically discuss “unreported” decisions of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania (see this blog post on the difference between reported and unreported decisions), a recent such decision touches on an important topic – the concept of a voluntary withdrawal from the labor market, or, in normal language,…
“Specific Loss” Benefits in PA Workers’ Compensation Has Higher Benefit Rate Than Total Disability
Workers’ compensation benefits in Pennsylvania consist of three types (aside from fatal claim benefits, which are not really relevant for this discussion). These are described in detail on our website. There are wage loss benefits (also known as “indemnity”), medical benefits and “specific loss” benefits. Specific loss benefits are paid…
PA Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Names New Judge Manager for Southeastern District
It is a time of change at the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation! As we addressed in a recent post, the former Judge Manager for the Southeastern District, Judge Holly San Angelo, has taken over the top spot as the Director of Adjudication at the Bureau. This, of course, left…