Workers’ Compensation IME Process

In Idaho, Insurance Companies Pick An IME Doctor

A complaint our attorneys hear often is: “The insurance company picked the doctor. It’s not fair.” It is common knowledge that Idaho work comp insurance companies repeatedly use the same doctors to examine injured workers. Referred to by the insurance company as “independent medical evaluators” or IME doctors, these doctors consistently give opinions that result in denied claims and lost work comp benefits.

Idaho Law allows insurance companies to pick a doctor to examine an injured worker. Idaho Code 72-433 requires injured workers to submit to examination with a doctor selected by the insurance company or lose workers’ comp benefits.

It is understandable why injured employees find this process unfair. After all, the insurance company doctor often disagrees with the recommendations of an injured worker’s treating physician.

The Consequences

The consequences of an insurance medical examination (referred to as an “independent medical examination” or “IME” by the insurance company) can be catastrophic for injured workers. The insurance company often terminates the income benefits that the injured worker is relying on to survive. What is more, Idaho workers’ compensation insurance companies regularly terminate medical benefits following an IME. This leaves an injured worker without income and without hope that they can medically recover from a work injury.

This Woman Lost 10 Years Battling a System Where Insurers Call the Shots documents the struggles insurance medical evaluators create for Hawaii’s injured workers. The system the article documents are very similar to the predicament Idaho’s injured workers face as a result of insurance medical evaluations.

Can An Idaho Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Help?

If you have been hurt at work and sent to an insurance medical evaluation, you probably don’t like what the insurance doctor had to say. Our attorneys work against the work comp insurance companies’ hired guns on a daily basis. Contact our work comp attorneys to see if we can help you.