The Wyoming Office of Administrative Hearings wrongly denied reimbursement for medical expert fees to injured workers in two separate cases, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
The OAH contended that it lacked statutory authority under the state’s workers compensation law to order medical expert fee reimbursement in cases where a physician who conducts independent medical exams at a claimant’s request was not appointed by OAH.
The consolidated cases were Terry J. Leal v. State of Wyoming et al. and Dustin Kopp v. State of Wyoming et al.
“OAH has the authority to order reimbursement of an employee’s reasonably incurred medical expert witness fees in contested cases,” the high court wrote. “OAH’s conclusion to the contrary was not in accordance with the law.”