Medical Benefits for Commonwealth Edison

Chicago Workers’ Compensation Lawyers for Commonwealth Edison Employees

Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) maintains almost one million electrical poles. It is a big electrical company and employs many workers across the state. As a ComEd worker you face numerous serious risks including electrocution and falls. If you were injured while trying working for the electric company, you may be able to obtain benefits. Please call the experienced Chicago workers’ compensation lawyers of Katz, Friedman, Eisenstein, Johnson, Bareck & Bertuca to represent you in your claim against Commonwealth Edison for medical benefits. Our firm seeks the best outcomes available to workers and will also look at the situation to see whether you have a personal injury or SSDI claim.

Medical Benefits for Injured Commonwealth Edison Employees

Working with high voltage wiring and at heights is potentially dangerous. Damaged power lines can cause fires and explosions. When you contact with live wires, the result can be electrical burns to skin or tissues. You may suffer complications if you are shocked; these could include respiratory trouble, cardiac arrest, confusion, interruption of your heart rhythms, seizures, and loss of consciousness. Electrical arcs and blasts can result in catastrophic injuries or disfigurement. As a ComEd worker, when you fall from great heights, you could sustain broken bones, back injuries, head injuries, brain injuries, or paralysis. You may face the need for expensive medical treatment.

Medical benefits include any reasonable and necessary medical expenses. They could include emergency care, doctors’ visits, medications, medical equipment, physical therapies, and surgery. All of these costs add up. As an employee of ComEd, you may not have been paid wages that allow you to pay for all the medical care you need for serious injuries like electrical shock and burns or paralysis. The complications of shock could also require substantial medical care.

Notifying ComEd of Injuries

You should tell ComEd as soon as possible that you were injured on the job. When you seek medical care, whether it is emergency care or a doctor’s visit to address your injuries, you should let your health care provider know that your injuries are work-related. The provider should then bill ComEd and its insurer directly, not you.

When ComEd belongs to a preferred provider program (PPP), you will have two choices of doctors. If you don’t like the first, in other words, you can choose a second from the PPP. These two doctors can in turn refer you to specialists. If you decided not to choose a doctor from within the PPP, you would only have a single choice of provider.

When your doctor asks for authorization on medical care that ComEd and its insurer believe is excessive, the dispute may need to be brought before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC). You may be asked to go to an independent medical exam (IME), which will be performed by a provider hired by ComEd and its insurer. They may ask the provider to evaluate specific questions related to your medical care and benefits, or they may ask for a broader medical exam.

Utilization Review

ComEd and its insurer may conduct a utilization review in connection with your past, present and future medical care. So, for instance, it would look at the propriety of medical equipment to address complications associated with electrical shock. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) may look at whether your medical care was reasonably needed and use the utilization review finding to make decisions on this front. For instance, a utilization review may be used in connection with the costs of physical therapy, rehabilitation, and medications your doctor recommends for you in connection with back injuries in the event that you fall from an electrical pole.

Hire a Chicago Law Firm for Commonwealth Edison Employees

Our attorneys handle workers’ compensation claims against Commonwealth Edison for medical benefits in Champaign, Rockford, Quincy, and Aurora, as well as Sangamon, Winnebago, Kane, Cook, and Adams Counties. We also handle third party lawsuits and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims. Call us at 312-724-5846 or complete our online form.