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How Long Does It Take to Get Workers’ Comp Benefits?

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Quick Support When You’re Hurt at Work

You got hurt on the job. Now you can’t work. Your life has turned upside down.

You need help with your medical bills—and all your bills. You need it fast.

This is supposed to be the deal you get with workers’ compensation benefits: You can’t sue your employer for your injuries. In exchange for that, you get quick access to medical treatment and checks for lost wages that help you stay afloat and make it through a trying time.

The workers’ comp system in Ohio generally moves swiftly. But you can run into hold-ups and worries about losing the lifestyle you worked hard to build.

The attorneys at Horenstein, Nicholson & Blumenthal can guide you through this process. We’re on the side of everyday, hard-working Ohioans, not big employers.

We can give you an idea of how long you’ll wait for benefits and what else to expect.

In the end, we want you to say “Helping me, that’s HNB.”

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    Timing of Workers’ Comp Benefits in Ohio

    How long does it take to get workers’ comp benefits? This is how workers’ comp benefits kick in after you’re injured on the job in Ohio:

    • Medical treatment benefits begin on the day you’re injured. Family doctors might not accept workers’ comp cases, so you can seek care in emergency rooms, urgent care clinics or occupational medicine clinics.
    • The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) can take up to 28 days to decide on your full claim, including other benefits besides medical, but it sometimes moves faster. Typically, all benefits start within a month.
    • You become eligible for lost wages payments after you lose seven days of work. The payments themselves can only begin after you’ve lost 14 days of work.
    • If your employer or the BWC reject your claim, appealing for a better result takes longer, from a few months to a year.

    Working with an experienced workers’ comp lawyer can help the process go more smoothly for you.

    An attorney can make sure your forms, medical information, income information and more get submitted without mistakes that cost you delays or denials of your benefits.

    To get an idea of where your case stands, you can have HNB provide an evaluation for free.

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    Workers’ comp medical benefits should begin immediately after you’re injured on the job.

    Deadlines for Filing Workers’ Comp Claims in Ohio

    Deadlines you must meet make up another side of the timing for receiving workers’ comp benefits.

    These are some of the major deadlines you face:

    • Traumatic injuries: You have one year from the date of your injuryto file your claim.
    • Occupational diseases:You have two years from the onset of your work-related condition, measured by the date of diagnosis, the date you first received medical treatment, or the date you left work because of your health problems.
    • If the BWC denies your benefits: You have 14 days to file an appealof the decision. You need to move fast. 

    Even when you see you have a year or two years to file a claim, don’t wait that long. It’s best to file as soon as you realize your job has injured your health.

    Waiting longer than necessary leads to mistakes or weaknesses in your claim that are harder to correct later on.

    Don’t face this process alone. Bring in someone who knows workers’ comp inside and out—freeing you to reclaim your life after a disaster on the job.

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    You can get help meeting all the workers’ comp deadlines from an attorney at Horenstein, Nicholson & Blumenthal.