Employees are one untied shoelace or frayed electrical wire away from a major injury. People who get hurt on the job largely understand that they can file a claim for workers’ compensation benefits. They can use workers’ compensation to pay for the medical care they need or replace their lost wages.
In a tragic scenario where a work injury or illness proves fatal, surviving family members may have major losses to address. They may not necessarily think of workers’ compensation benefits right away, but they may actually be eligible for several important forms of support.
In cases where workers lose their lives because of their jobs, workers’ compensation can provide important benefits to their surviving dependent family members.
What benefits are available?
After someone dies unexpectedly, their grieving family members have to address several forms of economic pressure. They may have hospital bills from the trauma care their loved one received before dying. They may have funeral expenses, including burial and cremation costs. They may also have to consider the lost wages that their loved one should have earned.
Workers’ compensation can help with all of those challenges. Medical benefits can cover the cost of care related to a work-acquired medical condition. There are no patient responsibility costs, like co-insurance, for the family to cover.
The family can also receive funeral benefits. Workers’ compensation can cover up to $8,000 in costs related to memorializing an individual. There are also survivor benefits to replace lost income. Surviving dependent family members can receive weekly benefits similar to what the worker could have received through disability pay.
They can receive up to $500,000 or 25 years of support. Benefits depend on the average weekly income of the deceased professional and the current average weekly wage throughout the state. While those benefits may not cover the full amount of the worker’s wages or replace the value of their benefits, they can help alleviate the financial pressure that families often experience when someone dies unexpectedly.
Getting help with a complicated workers’ compensation claim can optimize the benefits that families obtain. Surviving dependents may be eligible for multiple types of benefits. They may need help completing paperwork and determining what benefits could help them, given their circumstances, and that’s okay.