Legal Question in Workers Comp in Maryland

Re: who is responsible for medical bills

All Md. employers are required by law to carry worker's comp insurance. The penalty for failure to do so is that the employer is subject to a civil suit by the employee for his losses. If you were entitled to coverage, the employer should pay all your expenses, including medical bills and income loss, as well as a sum for your permanent loss. I would argue that you're entitled to compensation for the loss of the foot notwithstanding your diabetic condition, because the law says you take your victim as you find him. This means that if the accident was what finally caused the loss of the foot, the fact that a non-diabetic employee might not have lost his foot does not inure to the empoyer's benefit.

As to whether you should settle, the answer depends on the amount your employer is offering you, and if if fairly reflects all of your losses as explained above.