- Do not use your personal health insurance to pay for a work-related maritime injury.
- Under maritime law, your employer is legally required to pay for 100% of your related medical treatment under the Cure component of Maintenance and Cure.
- Using your own health insurance can trigger “subrogation” liens, meaning your health insurance company can take money out of your final injury settlement to pay themselves back.
- You have the absolute right to choose your own independent treating physician. You are not required to rely solely on the company doctor’s diagnosis or treatment plan.
- If your employer refuses to pay for your medical care or tries to force you to use your own insurance, contact a maritime lawyer immediately.
When a maritime worker is injured on the job, their first instinct is often shaped by years of handling everyday medical situations: They reach for their personal health insurance card at the hospital.
At the exact same time, the maritime employer is often directing the injured worker to see a specific “company doctor” who works for the corporate clinic.
Both of these scenarios can seriously damage your maritime injury claim.
Understanding who is legally required to pay for your treatment, who you are required to see, and why your personal health insurance should stay in your wallet is one of the most important things an injured seaman can know.
This guide, written by the maritime trial lawyers at Lambert Zainey, explains how to protect your health and your financial recovery from day one.
The Short Answer: Why Your Health Insurance Should Stay in Your Wallet
The instinct to use your health insurance after any injury is deeply ingrained. But for a maritime worker injured on a vessel or offshore, using your private insurance card is a mistake that can cost you tens of thousands of dollars.
Here is exactly why you should not use your own insurance:
The Hidden Danger of Subrogation
This is the most financially devastating reason not to use personal health insurance, and most injured seamen don’t know about it until it is too late.
If your private health insurer pays your medical bills, and you later win a large Jones Act settlement, your health insurer has a legal right called “subrogation.” This means they can place a lien on your settlement and force you to pay them back for the medical bills they covered.
Money that was supposed to compensate you for your pain and suffering ends up going straight back to your health insurance company. By forcing your employer to pay “Cure” directly from the start, you protect your final settlement.
Is the Company Refusing to Pay Your Medical Bills?
If your employer is dodging their legal duty to pay for your treatment, you need to act fast.
Take our free, 60-Second Maritime Case Quiz to find out if you have grounds for a lawsuit
Your Absolute Right to Employer-Paid Medical Care (“Cure”)
If you qualify as a Jones Act seaman, you are entitled to Maintenance and Cure benefits from your employer, regardless of who was at fault for the accident.
- Maintenance covers your daily living expenses (food, rent, utilities) while you recover ashore. Find out how much your Maintenance check should be.
- Cure covers your medical expenses (doctor visits, hospitalization, MRIs, surgery, medication, and rehabilitation).
Your employer is required to pay these Cure benefits until you achieve Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)—the point at which further medical treatment will no longer improve your condition.
If your employer refuses to pay for an MRI, a surgery, or a specialist visit recommended by your doctor, they are violating federal maritime law. You can sue them for the unpaid medical bills, attorney’s fees, and even punitive damages.
The “Company Doctor” Trap: Do You Have to See Their Physician?
After a maritime injury, your employer will almost certainly direct you to a company-appointed physician or clinic. Understanding what you are (and are not) required to do in that situation is critical to your claim.
1. Do not refuse emergency treatment.
If a company-arranged medical facility is the only immediate care available at the time of your injury (e.g., on the vessel, at a remote dock, or an emergency room your employer transports you to), accept the treatment. Refusing emergency medical care can be used against you later to claim you weren’t really hurt.
2. You DO NOT have to make the company doctor your treating physician.
Once the emergency is over, you have the absolute right under maritime law to choose your own independent doctor for ongoing treatment. Your employer cannot legally deny your Maintenance and Cure claim simply because you refused to use their hand-picked doctor.
3. Follow up with your own physician immediately.
Company doctors are paid by your employer’s insurance carrier. This creates a massive conflict of interest. In practice, company doctors frequently:
- Underestimate the severity of your injuries to save the company money.
- Refuse to order expensive diagnostic tests like MRIs.
- Declare you at Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) prematurely.
- Clear you to return to heavy maritime labor before you have genuinely healed.
The sooner you establish care with an independent physician who works for you, the stronger your medical evidence becomes.
If the company doctor has already cleared you for duty but you are still in pain, read our guide on What to Do If Your Employer Ends Maintenance and Cure Too Soon.
What Should You Do Immediately After a Maritime Injury?
The decisions you make in the first hours and days after a maritime injury dictate whether you will win or lose your case. Prioritize these four steps:
Speak to a New Orleans Maritime Attorney Today
The maritime trial attorneys at Lambert Zainey have been protecting the rights of injured seamen for more than 40 years.
If your employer is telling you to use your own health insurance, directing you to a biased company doctor, or refusing to pay for the treatment your independent physician recommends, we can stop them.
Contact us today for a free, confidential consultation. We serve maritime workers across the Gulf Coast and throughout the United States, and we never charge a fee unless we win your case.
