Diane Faber (name changed for this summary) was injured in the course of her employment in Grantville, Pennsylvania when she was rear ended by another vehicle while driving for work. We won the Claim petition. Unfortunately, the insurance company then refused to pay for massage therapy. We then filed a penalty petition against Erie, the worker comp insurance company, on her behalf for their failure to pay medical expenses.
The penalty petition was heard by a Workers’ Compensation Judge in Harrisburg, PA. Mrs. Faber presented evidence of the previous Judge’s decision, evidence of the unpaid bills for treatments including massage therapy and chiropractic treatment provided by Dr. Albert Skocik of Harrisburg, PA. The insurance company argued that massage therapy is not a type of treatment that is covered by the PA Workers’ Comp Act.
The Judge found that the massage therapy, which was provided under the supervision of the chiropractor, objectively improved Mrs. Faber’s condition, was reasonable, and was necessary. Most importantly, Judge Weyl found that massage therapists are within the definition of “health care provider” as set forth in Section 109 of the PA Workers’ Compensation Act. For this reason, the Judge found that the massage therapy sessions were covered by the act and the associated medical bills, which were submitted properly in accordance with Workers Compensation regulations, should have been timely paid. Due to the insurance company’s refusal to pay, the Judge assessed penalties of 50% of the amount owed on these bills. Judge Weyl also found that the insurance company failed to make proper, timely payments of temporary partial disability (TPD) to Mrs. Faber to compensate her for lost wages. The Judge tacked on another penalty of 50% for late payment of the compensation owed. In addition to these two substantial penalty payments, the Judge ordered that the Insurer pay Claimant’s attorney’s fees for unreasonable contest, stating that the Insurer pushed through to a final decision when it had no reasonable basis on which to prevail.
