Colorado Springs Defense Base Act Attorney

Civilians who overseas on military bases as part of the U.S. national defense effort will be protected by the Defense Base Act (DBA), which provides workers’ compensation benefits to these people in the event they are injured on the job.

As with many workers’ compensation laws, however, the Defense Base Act is complicated, and obtaining benefits under this Act may be more involved and challenging than people may realize.

To ensure that you or your loved one is able to secure the full amount of benefits to which you are entitled under the DBA, contact the Colorado Springs Defense Base Act Attorney with Shakeshaft-Gorman Law Firm, LLP. They have the experience and knowledge you can rely on to help you get the benefits you need and deserve after sustaining workplace injuries on overseas military bases.

Eligibility under the Defense Base Act

Under the terms of the Defense Base Act, the following employees are specifically eligible to apply for workers’ compensation benefits under the DBA if they sustain a workplace injury:

• People who work on overseas U.S. military, air force and/or naval bases
• People who work for any corporation or business that provides morale-boosting services to overseas U.S. armed forces.
• People who work under contract to the U.S. on an overseas public project.
• People who work selling equipment or services to the U.S. military, work outside of the U.S. and are funded by the Mutual Security Act of 1954.

It’s important to point out that, like traditional no-fault workers’ compensation laws, the Defense Base Act will cover the aforementioned workers regardless of whether they may have been at fault for their workplace injuries.

Defense Base Act: Choosing a Doctor

When any of the workers protected by the Defense Base Act are hurt on the job, here’s what they need to know about choosing a doctor:

• The injured person can select and see any doctor they choose.
• If the injured person wants to change doctors, he must first get approval from his employer or the employer’s insurer.
• An employer can require that the injured person gets his diagnosis and prescribed treatment confirmed by a doctor that the employer chooses.
• Injured workers can lose their claims to benefits if they fail to follow through with this second opinion exam.
• Injured people can obtain benefits to cover the costs of traveling to doctors, as well as any medical supplies they need.

Defense Base Act Claims and Benefits

When workers covered by the DBA are hurt while working and these injury precludes them from going back to work immediately, they can – according to the terms of the Defense Base Act:

• Apply for Defense Base Act benefits, which will typically be 2/3 of the injured worker’s weekly wage and will continue being paid until the individual can return to work
• Can receive total disability benefits if they are not able to return to work after reaching their maximum medical improvement (as determined by a doctor).

In the event a worker covered by the Defense Base Act sustains fatal workplace injuries (i.e., dies while working):

• His surviving spouse or another eligible relative can receive half of the deceased individual’s weekly income for life or until remarrying.
• All of his minor children will receive a specific portion of the decedent’s average weekly wage.
• Funeral expenses of up to $3,000 can be paid to the surviving loved ones.

Colorado Springs Defense Base Act Lawyer at Shakeshaft-Gorman Law Firm, LLP

Do you need help filing a Defense Base Act claim? If so, the Colorado Springs Defense Base Act Attorneys with Shakeshaft-Gorman Law Firm, LLP are here for you. Since 1982, Shakeshaft-Gorman Law Firm, LLP has been providing injured with the highest quality of legal services, helping them stand up to insurance companies, large corporations and government entities alike.

When you trust the Colorado Springs Defense Base Act Lawyers with Shakeshaft-Gorman Law Firm, LLP to handle your claim, you can rely on them and all of their legal professionals to help you efficiently navigate the complexities of the DBA and to help you secure the maximum possible benefits for your workplace injuries.

Let’s Talk about Your Claim – Contact Us

Let’s meet to discuss your case. You can schedule a free initial consultation with us by calling (719) 635-5886 or (800) 383-5886. You can also email us using the contact form on this page. We don’t get paid unless or until you get paid, so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by contacting us today.

From our offices in Colorado Springs, we serve people throughout Colorado, including people in the Denver metro area, El Paso County, the Pike's Peak Region, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Castle Rock, Fort Collins, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, and Grand Junction.