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I recently handled a case where the employee suffered a work injury in a work-related motor vehicle accident. Her injury was to her arm. She later began to develop pain in her neck. Although she assumed the neck pain was probably from the MVA, she nonetheless went to her family practice physician, who was not on the employer's panel, to get treatment. Of course, when the doctor sent the bills in to the employer's workers comp insurance company for payment, the bills were controverted. The employee was very surprised to learn that even though she suffered the injury at work and her employer did not dispute the injury, that she had to pay for the medical treatment, herself. Fortunately, she had health insurance which paid for the treatment, but she still had to pay copays and deductibles. Under Georgia law, the employer is allowed to post a panel of physicains and require its injured workers to see only those physicans for treatment of work-related injuries. If the employee obtains treatment from a non-panel doctor for the injury, the employer does not have to pay benefits for said treatment. While there are a number of rules related to the panel of physicans which the employer is required to follow, the employee is advised to see only those physicans on the panel unless the employer agrees for the employee to see a non-panel physicain. There are times when an injured employee can see a non-panel doctor, but the employee should seek the advice of an attorney regarding when it is appropriate to do so. If you have questions about medical treatment for your work injury, please contact me. Thanks, and have a great day. BGS
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