Can I Choose My Own Doctor for a Nebraska Workers' Comp Injury?

Patient in gray sweatshirt clutching abdomen while consulting with male doctor in white coat.

After suffering an injury at work, getting appropriate medical treatment is often one of your first concerns. But many Nebraska workers are surprised to learn that the rules about choosing a doctor for a workers’ compensation injury are different from simply scheduling an appointment with any provider that they prefer.

Nebraska law gives injured employees important physician-selection rights, but those rights depend partly on whether the employer properly notifies the worker of them. Making the wrong choice can potentially create problems over who is responsible for paying for treatment, so it’s important to understand the rules before changing doctors or beginning non-emergency treatment.

When Can You Choose Your Own Doctor?

If your employer properly notifies you after the injury of your right to select a physician, you can generally choose a doctor who treated you or an immediate family member before your workplace injury and has a documented history of that treatment. Under Nebraska law, qualifying immediate family members include a spouse, children, parents, stepchildren, and stepparents.

You should identify your chosen doctor as soon as possible after receiving the employer’s notice and before receiving treatment, except when emergency care is necessary.

What If Your Employer Never Tells You About Your Right to Choose?

This is an important exception. If your employer does not properly notify you of your physician-selection rights, Nebraska’s rules generally allow you to select any physician qualified to treat your injury as your primary treating physician.

What If Your Employer Wants You to See Its Doctor?

Your employer or its workers’ compensation insurer may require you to attend an examination with a physician it selects. This is different from transferring your treatment to that physician.

According to the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court, your employer can’t simply force you to receive treatment from a different doctor when you have properly selected your treating physician. However, it can request an examination by another doctor at the employer’s expense. Unreasonably refusing such an examination can impact workers’ compensation benefits.

Special Rules You Should Know

Nebraska’s physician-choice rules include several exceptions that may become important depending on your case:

Major surgery or amputation: An injured employee may select the physician or surgeon who performs a major surgical operation or an operation involving dismemberment.
Denied claims: If the insurer or self-insured employer denies that the injury is compensable, the employee may select a physician. If the injury is later found compensable, the employer can be responsible for qualifying medical treatment.
Managed care plans: Additional rules can apply when an employer uses an approved managed care plan, including requirements concerning participating and nonparticipating physicians.

Why Choosing the Wrong Doctor Can Matter

Seeing an unauthorized physician can create disputes over whether your employer or its workers’ compensation carrier must pay the resulting bills. Nebraska case law recognizes circumstances in which an employer isn’t responsible for medical services obtained from a physician selected in disregard of the statutory selection requirements.

That’s why it can be risky to switch doctors on your own simply because you’re unhappy with your current treatment. Determine whether you need approval or a court order before making the change.

Dark wooden judge gavel and base on desk with blurred person writing in background.

What Medical Treatment Does Workers’ Comp Cover?

When an injury is compensable, Nebraska workers’ compensation generally requires the employer to pay reasonable medical, surgical, and hospital services and other qualifying treatment required by the injury. This can include necessary medicines, medical supplies, prosthetic devices, and other covered care.

The important issue is ensuring that your treatment is both medically appropriate and obtained in accordance with Nebraska’s workers’ compensation rules.

Why Legal Guidance Matters

Disputes over doctors can become much more significant than they initially appear. Your treating physician may provide opinions about your diagnosis, work restrictions, need for additional treatment, maximum medical improvement, and whether you can return to your previous job, all of which can impact a workers’ compensation case.

Working with Shasteen, Morris & Ockander can help injured Nebraska workers determine whether they have the right to choose a physician, address disputes over medical treatment, and seek a change of doctor when necessary.