Private medical insurance companies tend not to be responsible for covering treatment of a work injury. The injured worker may become ultimately responsible for his medical costs if the rules are not followed properly. The majority of states require prompt notice of the employee's injury be given to the employer. This may be accomplished by giving notice to your supervisor or manager. In some states, this notice may have to be in writing, but oral notice is acceptable in most jurisdictions.
Prompt notice varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
In Pennsylvania, an employee has three years to report a work injury. Some jurisdictions give significantly less time to report a work injury. Once the time period of notice has lapsed, an injured worker may be permanently barred from receiving compensation for his work injury. Most importantly, an injured worker must be wary of the type of conduct which can result in the cancellation of his workers' compensation. For example, an injured worker in Pennsylvania must never act in a way that is interpreted as his refusal to do a job within his medical restrictions as a result of the work injury.