Indiana Bill Would Allow Employees to Select Physician in Workers’ Comp Cases

An Indiana lawmaker has proposed a bill that would allow employees to choose their attending physician in workers’ compensation cases.

Rep. Charles Moseley, a Democrat, introduced House Bill 1246 this week, which would permit an injured worker to choose a physician beginning July 1, 2024. The employee would be entitled to services from the physician regardless of whether the injury occurred before July 1.

If, due to the nature of the injury, the employee is unable to select an attending physician or does not select an attending physician and the nature of the injury requires care, the employer would select an attending physician for the employee as required.

Indiana’s workers’ compensation system currently allows employers to choose a physician for an injured worker without exception.

A study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute published in 2017 found little evidence of average cost difference in between states where employers had control over the choice of provider and states where workers were given the most control of the choice of provider. The study, The Effects of Provider Choice Policies on Workers’ Compensation Costs, surveyed effects of provider choice policies on workers’ compensation costs in 25 states between 2007 and 2010.

The Indiana bill had a first reading Tuesday in the Committee on Employment, Labor and Pensions.