Payment for Future Care May be Required in Certain WC Cases

The Indiana Court of Appeals recently ruled that an employee who has reached maximum medical improvement for a work-related injury may still be entitled to further payments for future palliative care in order to “limit or reduce the amount and extent of the employee’s impairment.”

In this particular case, Randall Perkins v. Jayco, Inc., a three judge panel found that the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Board erred when it affirmed the decision of a single hearing board member to deny the plaintiff’s request for palliative care for his work-related injury. The Court held that simply because an employee has reached maximum medical improvement for an injury does not disqualify him from eligibility for additional medical treatment for pain. The error was ultimately harmless due to other findings of the Board. But the case supports the conclusion that MMI does not necessarily end a claimant's entitlement to payments for future palliative care.

You can read the decision in full here.