Workers' compensation law in Pennsylvania is complicated and notoriously difficult to navigate. Your first step should be to select an attorney who makes handling workers' compensation cases a priority.  

Introduction to Workers' Compensation Benefits:

In Pennsylvania, there are are two common types of benefits an injured worker receives.  These are medical benefits and indemnity benefits.  Medical benefits simply means that the workers' compensation insurance company must pay for all of your medical bills that result from your work injury.  The insurance company would be responsible for the bills from all types of treatment you need to recover from your injuries for however long you need medical care. The injured worker is also entitled to indemnity benefits.  Indemnity benefits simply means compensation for the lost wages that result from a work related disability.  Typically, an injured worker would be entitled to two-thirds (66%) of their average weekly wage.  There are many ways that the law uses to determine what an injured worker's average weekly wage is for workers' compensation cases.  This is an area that requires careful scrutiny of the law to determine if the calculation made by the employer and insurer is accurate.  Otherwise, the injured worker will not receive the full amount of the indemnity benefit.  There are other aspects to determining the amount of indemnity benefit that may allow the injured worker to receive more than two thirds (66%) their average weekly wage depending on many different factors.   

Start of a claim:

In order for an injury to be compensable under the Pennsylvania workers' compensation law, the injury needs to occur "in the course of and arising out of the employment".  If the injury satisfies those requirements, you will need to notify your employer right away.  There is a specific requirement that you promptly notify your employer and it also makes the work-related injury appear to a Judge to be more credible.  If you wait too long to report the injury you may be barred from bringing the claim or you may make the Judge skeptical of whether your injury occurred at work.  After notice of the injury, employers will generally direct an injured worker to the notices that identify medical providers that the claimant can see for treatment.  These panel providers are usually listed somewhere in the work area as Pennsylvania law requires posting of these notices.  After a certain period of time, usually 90 days, you are permitted to treat with other medical providers who are not on the listed panel.  Although the injured worker may treat with a doctor who is not on the panel list before the 90 day period expires, there may be difficulty in getting those bills paid by the workers' compensation insurance carrier.  

Acceptance or denial by employer and insurer:

After receiving notice, the employer and their insurance company has a certain amount of time to either accept the claim or deny it.  If they accept the claim, they may accept the fact that you were injured and will pay for medical treatment but not that you are unable to work.  They may also accept the injury and your inability to work completely.  They can also deny the claim if they take the position that you were not hurt at work, if your disability results from a pre-existing condition or they do not feel your injury requires any treatment or lost time from work.  

Receipt of benefits or filing a claim:

If the claim is accepted and you and the employer and insurer agree on the type of benefits needed, you will receive the benefits until the employer and insurer allege your treatment has become unnecessary or you do not need to miss time from work.  If you are receiving benefits, then the employer and insurer will file a Petition that will be heard by a workers' compensation Judge to determine if you are entitled to receive the benefits.  If your employer and their insurer denied your claim then you can file a claim petition.  All of the petitions - either filed by the employer and insurer or your claim petition - are very complicated and are best handled by an attorney who specializes in these types of cases.  

Review Petitions or Compromise and Release:

An employer and insurer may file a review petition attempting to suspend the payment of workers' compensation benefits (temporarily stop) or to try to terminate the benefits (end them permanently).  These are tricky procedures and can become quite complicated and involved.  There are many issues that can result in the filing of these petitions.  It can result from a change in the medical treatment, a change in the restrictions (no lifting more than 10 lbs., etc.) or change in the types of hours worked.  A claimant can also file a review petition to get a medical bill paid if the employer and insurer deny payment.  There are many other issues that can result in a review petition such as late payments by the employer and insurer of workers' compensation benefits.  

A compromise and release is a document that gets filed with the workers' comepsnation Judge that requests the case be settled.  This allows the parties to resolve issues pending between them and to settle the dispute.  This will require a hearing by the Judge to determine if the claimant understands the settlement and what effect it has on the right to future benefits.  It also requires complicated considerations that you will need to have an attorney review.  There is specific language that must be recorded int he agreement to protect the rights of individuals who resolve their claims.