Can I see my own doctor for a workers’ compensation claim?

It is common for employers and workers’ compensation insurers to tell workers suffering workplace injury to seek treatment from a particular doctor. The employer or insurer pays that doctor, and all the bills for treatment go to them and not the worker. That helps the worker to avoid medical bills, but the doctor, ultimately, works for the employer or insurer, and has their best interests in mind.

Injured workers can seek treatment from their own doctors without asking permission. They also can refuse to see doctors recommended by employers or insurers. Those medical bills, though, are in the worker’s name, and the worker owes any amounts that exceed insurance coverage limits.