"An employee may not be required to pay a fee or charge for medical treatment or services provided under this chapter." AS 23.30.097(f).
An employee never has to pay for his medical treatment for a Workers Compensation Claim. AS 23.30.097(f). If you were made to pay for any of your treatment then you need to submit the proof of the charge and payment to the insurance company for reimbursement. Be sure that you keep a copy for your own files of the proof of payment and the date upon which you sent it to the insurance company for reimbursement. There are two ways to prove that you submitted the payment:
1. You can hand carry the payment to the insurance company and ask the receptionist to sign and date your copy of the document, or
2. You can mail it priority mail. You will be given a tracking number by USPS. After the mail is delivered, go to the USPS website and print off the proof of delivery.
The reason that is important to keep proof of your submission is that you are entitled to a 25% penalty if the insurance company is late reimbursing you. For more information: http://keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.
If the insurance company controverts you and refuses to pay the medical bills, you are not required to pay the bills. AS 23.30.097(f). However the doctors are not required to treat you if they are not paid under most circumstances, so you probably won’t receive treatment.
If you have health insurance or are eligible for Medicaid or Medicare, the providers can bill those entities while you are sorting out the Workers Compensation case.
If you do not want to file a claim for payment of medical benefits, then the providers are entitled to file a claim directly.
Call: Keenan Powell 258-7663. E-mail: keenan@keenanpowell.com.