Opinion ID: 1156976
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Is Travel for the Purpose of Treatment of Work-Related Injuries Covered by the Workers' Compensation Act?

Text: The Board held that accidental injuries sustained during a trip to or from a doctor's office for treatment of a work-related injury was compensable under the Alaska Workers' Compensation Act (the Act). The Board cited Professor Larson's treatise for the proposition that the better view appears to be that accidental injuries during [such] a trip are work connected. 1 A. Larson, Law of Workmen's Compensation § 13.13, at 3-406 (1986). Kodiak argues that such a result is contrary to AS 23.30.265 which limits compensable injuries to those arising out of and in the course of employment. AS 23.30.265(2) states: arising out of and in the course of employment includes employer-required or supplied travel to and from a remote site; activities performed at the direction or under the control of the employer; and employer-sanctioned activities at employer-provided facilities; but excludes activities of a personal nature away from employer-provided facilities. Contrary to Kodiak's assertion, this provision does not limit coverage of Adams' accident. First, since the doctor's appointment was the result of a work-related injury, the activity cannot be considered of a personal nature. Under the Act, an employee must submit to reasonable medical treatment as a condition of receiving compensation. [3] Consequently, such medical treatment is an activit[y] performed at the direction of the employer. Second, the fact that an employee's usual travel to and from work is not covered under the going and coming rule [4] does not dictate noncoverage for medical travel. As a policy matter, travel related to work-connected medical treatment is more analogous to a special errand [5] which is covered under the Act. In conclusion, we affirm the board's holding that medical travel for treatment of work-related injuries is covered under the Alaska Workers' Compensation Act.