Iowa State-Specific Information

Forms

These are the required forms to use when reporting and managing workers' compensation claims in Iowa. If you have specific questions about any of these forms or resources, contact your SFM claims representative.

• First Report of Injury
  Report injuries online. It's the fastest, easiest way to report. Or use the Iowa First Report of Injury form to report injuries to SFM.
• Iowa job safety and health poster
  Hang this poster, required by Iowa OSHA, for all employees to see. It explains an employee's right to a safe workplace.
• Temporary prescription information sheet and cards
  This prescription card allows employees to fill their initial work-related injury prescription without any out-of-pocket expense. Give it to your employee when he or she becomes injured and plans to see a doctor. A longer-term prescription card is mailed to the employee once SFM has received the First Report of Injury
• Iowa injured employee brochure
  This brochure, developed by the Iowa Workforce Development, can be given to your injured employees, especially if a dispute over medical care arises. It helps them understand the workers' compensation system, benefits that may be due to them, and their responsibilities.
• Iowa alternative medical care petition
  If an injured employee has a medical care dispute regarding his or her workers' compensation claim, you will receive this completed form from the Iowa Workforce Development. Contact your SFM claims representative right away if you receive this form. SFM has 5 business days to respond.

Web links

• Iowa Department of Commerce
• Iowa Division of Workers' Compensation
• Iowa-Illinois Safety Council

Employers in Iowa have the right to choose an injured employee's treating physician. However, you are required to provide notice to the injured employee at the time of injury of his right to contest where he seeks medical treatment at any time.

At the time of injury or if a dispute over medical care arises, give your injured employee a copy of the Iowa Workforce Development brochure. It may help him better understand the workers' compensation system, benefits that may be due and his responsibilities.

Physicians well versed in treating occupational injuries, like the ones in CorVel's Preferred Provider Network, provide reasonable and necessary care at negotiated rates. Using network providers gets the injured employee back to work sooner, which ultimately reduces your workers' compensation premium.

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After an injury occurs and you're ready to submit the First Report of Injury, make your job easier by pulling together the necessary information. Most of it may be in the employee's personnel file.

Items needed:

• Employee's Social Security number
• Employee's full name
• Employee's date of birth
• Employee's current address
• Employee's authorization to release medical records
• Your SFM policy number and coverage effective and expiration dates
• Accurate wage information to reimburse the employee for lost wages
• Date of injury and the date the employer had knowledge of the injury
• Initial date last day worked
• Date employee returned to work, if applicable
• Did you pay the employee for lost time on the day of injury?
• Treating physician's name and address along with the hospital or clinic name, if the employee sought treatment

Details about the accident:

• How did the injury occur?
• What was the employee doing before the incident?
• What was the injury or illness? Include specific parts of the body.
• What tools, equipment, machines, objects or substances were involved?

If you need assistance completing a First Report of Injury, call the SFM claim reporting hotline at (800) WC-CLAIM [922-5246].

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When a claim is reported to SFM, the injured employee receives the following:

• Acknowledgement letter from your SFM claims representative
• Personalized "Prescription services identification card" to be used to fill work-injury related prescriptions
• Brochure on workers' comp benefits and answers to common questions
• Mileage and travel reimbursement form

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State laws allow employers to have access to injured employees' medical records so they can see work restrictions ordered by physicians, which are usually documented on a Report of Work Ability form.

It's good to clarify work restrictions and transitional job tasks with the physician. Remember to document everything and keep the employee informed.

Other rules for handling confidential medical records:

• By law, you cannot combine medical records with the employee's personnel file. Keep a separate medical file.
• Never give medical information to a third party without the employee's written consent.
• Don't use medical information as grounds to fire or discriminate against an employee. Doing so violates several federal and state laws.

HIPAA's effect on workers' compensation

For the most part, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules do not apply to workers' compensation claims. Some provisions apply, but only to the workers' compensation insurance company or the self-insured employer, not the general employer.

The general guideline for employers on handling workers' compensation is that you have a right to discuss an injured employee's progress and existing medical history with the physician, as it relates to the injury.

Medical providers may be unclear about the HIPAA law as it applies to workers' comp and may be reluctant to give you information. If you're having trouble getting information from a provider, call your SFM claims representative at (800) 937-1181.

For more information on HIPAA and how it relates to workers' compensation, visit the federal Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which administers the HIPAA privacy Rule. Its website has helpful "Frequently asked questions" and "Disclosures for workers' compensation purposes."

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Insurance fraud may come in many different forms, including an injured employee who intentionally misrepresents information or hides the truth with the intent to receive money or other benefits from an insurance company.

Even if you suspect fraud, you must still report the injury to SFM. Your SFM claims representative will investigate the claim and determine whether the evidence falls under the state's legal definition of fraud.

If you suspect a claim is fraudulent, contact your SFM claims representative or SFM's Special Investigations Unit at 800-937-1181, ext. 4288.

For more information on insurance fraud in Iowa, contact the Iowa Department of Commerce, Fraud Division at 877-955-1212.

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If the injured employee is missing time from work—either directly following the injury or any time during the course of recuperating from the injury—it is essential that you notify your SFM claims representative. Unless you tell SFM that an injured employee is missing work, the employee won't receive the workers' compensation wage-replacement benefits he or she is entitled to by law. That may trigger state penalties or prompt the employee to contact an attorney.

If the employee is losing time from work directly following the injury, be sure to fill in the "Initial date last day worked" box on the Iowa First Report of Injury form.

If the employee loses time from work after you've already submitted the First Report to SFM, call your claims representative immediately at (800) 937-1181 to let him or her know when the employee first began losing time from work. Your organization may be assessed a state penalty if you do not notify your SFM claims representative immediately after you have knowledge that the employee will miss time from work due to the injury.

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State law requires a specific number of days to pass before an injured employee is eligible to receive workers' compensation wage-loss benefits. Additionally, most states require a specific number of days that the employee is off work before wage-loss benefits are retroactively paid from the beginning of the waiting period. The number of days in the so-called "waiting period" and the retroactive period varies by state. Each state also specifies which days count and what constitutes a day.

Employees who have been injured at work in Iowa must wait three days following an injury where they're losing time from work to be eligible to receive wage-loss benefits. Once an injured employee has passed the 14th day off work because of the injury, he or she is eligible to be retroactively paid wage-loss benefits starting from the first day of the waiting period.

If the employee is injured at work and misses, say, seven days of work, SFM would pay the employee wage-loss benefits for the fourth through the seventh days off work due to the injury. SFM would not pay wage-loss benefits for the waiting period since the employee did not hit the retroactive period.

A "day" is defined by Iowa workers' compensation statute to be the first full or partial calendar day an employee misses work because of the injury.

For more information about the Iowa waiting period, please contact your SFM claims representative at (800) 937-1181 or visit the Iowa Workforce Development Division of Workers' Compensation website.

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