Sec. 31-294d. Medical and surgical aid; hospital and nursing service.
Sec. 31-294d. Medical and surgical aid; hospital and nursing service. (a)(1)
The employer, as soon as the employer has knowledge of an injury, shall provide a
competent physician or surgeon to attend the injured employee and, in addition, shall
furnish any medical and surgical aid or hospital and nursing service, including medical
rehabilitation services and prescription drugs, as the physician or surgeon deems reasonable or necessary. The employer, any insurer acting on behalf of the employer, or any
other entity acting on behalf of the employer or insurer shall be responsible for paying
the cost of such prescription drugs directly to the provider.
(2) If the injured employee is a local or state police officer, state marshal, judicial
marshal, correction officer, emergency medical technician, paramedic, ambulance
driver, firefighter, or active member of a volunteer fire company or fire department
engaged in volunteer duties, who has been exposed in the line of duty to blood or bodily
fluids that may carry blood-borne disease, the medical and surgical aid or hospital and
nursing service provided by the employer shall include any relevant diagnostic and
prophylactic procedure for and treatment of any blood-borne disease.
(b) The employee shall select the physician or surgeon from an approved list of
physicians and surgeons prepared by the chairman of the Workers' Compensation Commission. If the employee is unable to make the selection, the employer shall do so,
subject to ratification by the employee or his next of kin. If the employer has a full-time staff physician or if a physician is available on call, the initial treatment required
immediately following the injury may be rendered by that physician, but the employee
may thereafter select his own physician as provided by this chapter for any further
treatment without prior approval of the commissioner.
(c) The commissioner may, without hearing, at the request of the employer or the
injured employee, when good reason exists, or on his own motion, authorize or direct
a change of physician or surgeon or hospital or nursing service provided pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section.
(d) The pecuniary liability of the employer for the medical and surgical service
required by this section shall be limited to the charges that prevail in the same community
or similar communities for similar treatment of injured persons of a like standard of
living when the similar treatment is paid for by the injured person. The liability of the
employer for hospital service shall be the amount it actually costs the hospital to render
the service, as determined by the commissioner, except in the case of state humane
institutions, the liability of the employer shall be the per capita cost as determined by
the Comptroller under the provisions of section 17b-223. All disputes concerning liability for hospital services in workers' compensation cases shall be settled by the commissioner in accordance with this chapter.
(e) If the employer fails to promptly provide a physician or surgeon or any medical
and surgical aid or hospital and nursing service as required by this section, the injured
employee may obtain a physician or surgeon, selected from the approved list prepared
by the chairman, or such medical and surgical aid or hospital and nursing service at the
expense of the employer.
(P.A. 91-32, S. 12, 41; 91-339, S. 48, 55; P.A. 98-160; P.A. 00-99, S. 81, 154; P.A. 01-85, S. 2, 3.)
History: P.A. 91-339 amended Subsecs. (b) and (e) to change "commissioners" to "chairman of the workers' compensation commission"; P.A. 98-160 amended Subsec. (a) to provide specific diagnosis and treatment for certain employees
exposed in the line of duty to blood or bodily fluids; P.A. 00-99 replaced reference to high sheriff, chief deputy sheriff,
deputy sheriff and special deputy sheriff with state marshal and judicial marshal in Subsec. (a), effective December 1,
2000; P.A. 01-85 amended Subsec. (a) by dividing existing provisions into Subdivs. (1) and (2), adding provisions in
Subdiv. (1) re furnishing prescription drugs and payment of prescription drug costs directly to provider and making technical
changes, effective January 1, 2002.
Cited. 228 C. 1. Sec. 31-294 (repealed) cited. Id. Cited. 237 C. 1. Cited. 241 C. 692.
Subsec. (c):
Although workers' compensation commissioner, acting within her discretion under statute, designated a new treating
physician for plaintiff, commissioner did not have authority to make specific orders regarding a treatment plan to be
imposed on a treating physician without that physician's acquiescence. 94 CA 334.