Disability Law

Undocumented Worker Entititled to Medical Care - - In Mexico

By David A. McCranie, Esq.

In AMS Staff Leasing, Inc., v. Arreola, the employee, an undocumented alien who had entered illegally into the United States from Mexico, was injured in an on-the-job accident while working in Florida. After undergoing twelve post-accident surgical procedures, his physician recommended that he undergo yet another procedure.  By that time, however, he had moved back to his native Mexico and was unable to return to the United States legally in order to receive the recommended treatment. 

The JCC ordered the Employer/Carrier to authorize medical treatment for the claimant in Mexico, and the First District affirmed.  The E/C had argued that because the physician in Mexico was not subject to the more rigorous educational and professional standards required of physicians in the United States, he was not a "physician" within the meaning of §440.13(1)(q), and therefore they were not required to authorize treatment by him.

 No indication in the opinion that the E/C had ever tried to avoid liability by contending that the employee had committed "fraud" by presenting false evidence of his identity in the form of a fake social security number as discussed in this post.

Full post as published by Florida Workers’ Compensation Law Blog on February 01, 2008 (boomark / email).