New Hampshire: Home Health Services Provided by Worker’s Spouse Should Be Compensated

Where a worker sustained serious injuries and, after a period of hospitalization, was discharged to his home and prescribed medication and follow-up care, which included home health services—physical and occupational therapy, a home health aide, and nursing services—it was reasonable to reimburse the worker’s wife, who performed the services, for 12 hours per day at $15 per hour, held the Supreme Court of New Hampshire. The Compensation Appeals Board determined that after the worker’s release from the hospital, he had multiple open wounds that required daily cleaning, and he “needed 24/7 care, due to balance problems, short term memory loss, and inability to perform certain regular activities of daily living.” The Supreme Court agreed that while the worker’s wife did not have any formal medical training, she provided “clinically related treatment” under N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 151-C:2.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Appeal of Northridge Environmental, LLC (New Hampshire Comp. Appeals Bd.), 2016 N.H. LEXIS 27 (Mar. 22, 2016)

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 94.03.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

For more information about LexisNexis products and solutions connect with us through our corporate site