Iowa Workers' Compensation

In Spencer v. Annett Holdings, Inc. , No. 11-1032 (Iowa App. March 28, 2012), the court of appeals addressed an alternate medical care issue involving the choice of physician when the treating physician retired.  The hearing deputy had concluded that the employer was allowed to choose the provider, despite the fact that the treating (authorized) physician had made a referral to another physician.  On judicial review, the district court reversed, and concluded that the retiring physician's recommendation of a new physician should be followed.  The court of appeals reverses the finding of the district court. At the district court level, claimant argued that under a long line of agency precedent, if there is a referral by an authorized treating physician, the physician to whom the referral is made becomes the authorized treater.  The district court accepted that argument.  The court of appeals adopted the deputy's argument that the treating physician was not maki...

On March 5, 2010, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Bell Brothers Heating and Air Conditioning v. Gwinn , 779 NW2d 193 (Iowa 2010). The case involved the proof required by the employee to establish a claim for benefits and expenses on account of medical care obtained by the employee, but not authorized by the employer or the commissioner. Mr. Gwinn had obtained non-authorized care (surgery) a week before the arbitration hearing. The court noted that the employer generally had the right to control care (the so-called authorization defense), but that the statute allowed the employee to choose care in certain emergency situations, when the employer and employee agreed to alternate medical care, and when the commissioner approved alternate medical care. The court concluded, however, that the employer's right to select the medical care did not prevent the employee from choosing medical care at his or her own expense under two circumstances. The first circumstance is when the ...