Legal Question in Workers Comp in Arizona

In Arizona, workers' compensation medical care is divided into "active" and "supportive." Active care is what you get when you are first injured. It is generally defined as care that is intended to advance or improve your condition. Once you have reached maximum medical improvement (we call it "stationary") your care becomes supportive, which is intended to maintain you and keep you comfortable. Supportive care can last a lifetime, but in the future, if you need additional active care, you have the right to petition to reopen your claim for it.

Arizona law forbids (for the most part) settlements of your future rights to active care. You can, however, accept a settlement for your future supportive care.

If your hip fails, the consequences of having settled your supportive care could be that it would be harder for you to get your case reopened, just because you might not be able to get a test that proves your hip has failed. In general, however, if you settle supportive care, it does not affect your future reopening rights.

Obviously these are complex questions. Paying a lawyer for an hour of his or her time might be money well-spent, as the above advice only scratches the surface, and is given without seeing any of the documents in your case.