Who Gets To Choose My Doctor?

In 2011, the business community convinced the legislature to strip workers’ of the right to pick their own doctor. Now, the insurance company controls what doctor’s you will be seeing first and also any specialists who will see you later for your care.

What rights do you have, then, for a second opinion for treatment? Well, under the new law you do have some rights to petition the Industrial Commission to ask that they require the insurance company to pay for a second opinion for treatment. Contact my office so we can help you get that done.

Do you have rights for any other opinions? Yes! You have a right to a 2nd opinion on an impairment rating given to you by your doctor. What’s an impairment rating? It’s a percentage of a loss of use of a body part. So, for example, you have a knee surgery and the doctor removes part of the cartilage in your knee. You’re going to have a permanent impairment rating to your knee. You have the right to a 2nd opinion on that amount of impairment rating. The 2nd opinion doctor can talk about the impairment rating but, unfortunately, under the new law, they can no longer talk about whether you are able to go back to work and whether you need any future medical care as a result of that injury.