Devastating work injuries are impossible to predict, leaving disabled employees anxiously searching for affordable medical care and financial assistance during the time they are out of work. In some instances, injured workers are left with no source of income and the financial burden may force them to sell the majority of their assets or borrow money from family and friends in order to survive. While workers’ compensation benefits are provided on the state level, the federal government offers additional benefits to disabled individuals in the form of Social Security disability insurance.
Although both forms of benefits consist of monetary awards and medical coverage, eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits differs greatly from the requirements of its federal counterpart. To qualify for workers’ compensation benefits, an employee must be injured in the course and scope of his or her employment and any ongoing disability must be directly related to the work injury. In this context, “disability” is synonymous with wage loss, meaning individuals are only considered disabled if they are earning less money than they were prior to being injured as a direct result of their work injury.
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