Rehabilitation is a service that helps you return to your job, or if that's not possible, to another job either with the same or a different employer. Rehab helps you regain wages as close as possible
to your pre-injury wage.
Services often include vocational evaluation, counseling, job analysis, job modification, job placement, labor market surveys, vocational testing, work adjustment, interviewing skills, on-the-job training, retraining, and others.
You can request a consultation with a Qualified Rehabilitation Consultant (QRC) any time after your injury by giving written notice to the insurer and filing the same with the Workers' Comp Division.
If the comp insurer wants to deny your request, they must request a waiver from the Division using information contained in their Disability Status Report (DSR). The insurer is obligated to file a DSR if you request a QRC, or if three months have passed and you're still not working -- or sooner if it becomes clear to them that you won't return to work within three months of your injury. Each time the insurer files a DSR with the Department of Labor and Industry, they can either agree to a QRC consult, or request that your right to a QRC be waived.
It's a sad fact, but true, that the longer you're off
work, the less likely you'll ever work again. Thus, it's in the insurer's best interest to get you back to work because they'll pay less on your claim and your employer may pay less in future workers comp premiums. Therefore, they'll waive your right to a QRC consultation only if your request is premature (less than 3 months since your injury), your return to work appears imminent, or it's obvious that you'll never resume gainful employment again. Note, however, the final decision whether to grant a consultation rests with the Workers Comp Division.
If you're granted a consultation, the insurer may dispute the findings of the QRC, or the QRC's rehabilitation plan, if it appears unreasonable or unnecessary. Again, the final decision whether to approve the rehabilitation plan rests with the Workers Comp Division.
If you don't like your QRC (perhaps they were appointed by the insurer, or you don't like the plan that they've established, or you find them confusing or unhelpful), you have the right to select another QRC within 60 days of the filing of their rehabilitation plan with the Division.
A disability case manager is usually not a QRC, but someone with medical training and at least one years' worth of workers comp experience. They may be assigned to you if you're under a certified manage care plan. This individual is an agent of the insurance company. . They are generally not held to the same ethical standards as a QRC; they may or may not have much contact with you; they will be biased toward the insurer instead of you; and you have no rights to their involvement in your case.
We recommend that you follow their requests, unless of course their requests violate your rights under workers compensation law.
If You've Been Wrongly Denied a Consultation With a QRC, the QRC's Rehabilitation Plan is Disputed, or You Question the Request of a Case Manager ...
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