What Is a Termination of Worker's Compensation Benefits?

Termination of Worker’s Comp Benefits

The first sign that your workers’ compensation wage loss benefits may be in jeopardy is when you receive in the mail a notice to attend an Independent Medical Examination (IME). This is a quick, one-time examination by a physician of the workers’ compensation carrier’s choice. Keep in mind that the physician is paid directly by the carrier, and in most instances will find a way to side with the workers’ compensation carrier’s position that there is nothing wrong with you regarding your work injury and that you are fully recovered from your work injury.

After a workers’ compensation carrier receives the Independent Medical Examination (IME) report stating a full recovery from your work injury, the carrier will hire an attorney to file a Termination Petition against you, the injured worker, in an attempt to stop all of your wage loss and medical workers’ compensation benefits.

At this point, you, the injured worker, must hire a workers’ compensation attorney to respond and file an Answer to the Termination Petition to contest it. Note: this is time sensitive, so you must act quickly so you don’t miss important deadlines.

As with all other Petitions filed in workers’ compensation court, you need representation. With the Termination Petition, the IME doctor will testify consistent with his report to support his opinion of full recovery. You, the injured worker, must have a doctor testify that you are NOT fully recovered from your work injury, and you must also testify that you still have symptoms and ongoing difficulties with your daily living activities and that you are NOT fully recovered.

Defending workers’ compensation petitions, especially ones that require physician testimony, can be costly to litigate, as doctors all require payment for their testimonies. Further, you need an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer to take and attend the depositions of both physicians, to ask the appropriate questions to make the best case for you before the assigned workers’ compensation judge.