Workers' Comp Physical Therapy in Michigan: Your Rights

Quick answer: if you were hurt at work in Michigan, your employer's workers' compensation insurance pays for authorized physical therapy at no cost to you — and after 28 days of treatment, you have the right to choose your own doctor and clinic. Before that, your employer can direct where you're treated.

How treatment gets authorized

Report the injury promptly (delays are the #1 claim-killer), get the initial medical visit your employer directs, and therapy begins once the carrier authorizes it. A clinic that works comp claims properly coordinates that authorization directly with the adjuster — you should never be stuck playing phone-tag between a carrier and a clinic.

The 28-day rule, plainly

For the first 28 days of treatment, your employer/carrier may choose the providers. After 28 days, Michigan law lets you switch to providers of your choice — you simply notify the carrier. If you're unhappy with mill-style care early in a claim, mark the calendar; the choice becomes yours.

What good work-injury rehab includes

• Treatment of the injury and conditioning for your actual job demands
• Current work-status reports so light duty and restrictions stay accurate
• Objective testing — and when the claim needs a definitive answer, a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) measuring safe lifting and positional tolerance on instrumented equipment

Protect yourself with two habits

Report everything in writing on day one, and attend every scheduled visit — gaps in treatment are read as gaps in injury. If a dispute arises, the objective record a measurement-based clinic builds is exactly what resolves it. Questions about where your claim stands? Ask — navigating this is part of the service, not an extra.