Key Takeaways
- Your employer picks the doctor. Section 12 of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act lets the employer order an examination by a practitioner it selects, at its own expense, to assess the nature, extent and probable duration of your injury.
- The money comes with the notice. Travel money and the cost of necessary meals must arrive with the notice of the exam, the time and place must be reasonably convenient for you, and any working time you lose is reimbursed at your average daily wage.
- Two rights almost nobody uses. You may bring your own physician into the exam at your own expense. If you do not, the examining surgeon must give you an exact copy of the report no later than 48 hours before your hearing, and a surgeon who refuses cannot testify.
- Refusing suspends your benefits. Refusing or unnecessarily obstructing the exam temporarily stops your compensation, and nothing is payable for that period. For injuries on or after July 15, 2026, the temporary total disability maximum is $2,045.63 per week.
- An IME is evidence, not a verdict. The report is produced by the party that benefits if your claim is worth less. An arbitrator weighs it against your treating physician’s records, and treating doctors often carry more credibility.
A letter arrives telling you to report to a doctor you have never met, on a date you did not pick, chosen by the company that is paying your benefits. It feels like a trap, and injured workers in Illinois routinely either panic or ignore it. Both reactions cost money.
This exam has a name. Insurers call it an independent medical examination, or IME. Illinois law calls it a Section 12 examination, and the same statute that gives your employer the right to order it gives you a specific set of rights that most people never exercise, because nobody tells them the rights exist.
What an IME Actually Is in an Illinois Workers’ Comp Case
Section 12 of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act says that an employee entitled to receive disability payments shall be required, if requested by the employer, to submit to examination by a duly qualified medical practitioner or surgeon selected by the employer, at the employer’s expense.
The statute states the purpose plainly: to determine the nature, extent and probable duration of the injury, and to establish the amount of compensation that may be due. In practice, an insurer orders an IME when it wants a second opinion that disagrees with your treating doctor, most often about whether you are still disabled, whether you have reached maximum medical improvement, or how much permanent disability you are left with.
The word “independent” is doing a lot of work in that phrase. The doctor is selected and paid by the party that benefits if your claim is worth less. That does not make the report worthless, and it does not make the doctor dishonest, but it does mean the report is evidence produced by the other side, and it should be read that way.
The three medical opinions in an Illinois comp case
Illinois recognizes more than one kind of medical examination, and they carry very different weight. The one your employer orders is not the same as the one the Commission can order.
| Type of examination | Who selects the doctor | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Your treating physician (Section 8(a)) | You | The employer, for reasonable and necessary care |
| Employer’s IME (Section 12) | The employer | The employer |
| Commission impartial exam (Section 19(c)) | A panel chosen by the Illinois State Medical Society | No cost to either party |
What Your Employer Must Do Before You Ever Walk In
This is the part that gets skipped. Section 12 does not simply say the employer may order an exam. It attaches conditions, and they are enforceable.
- A reasonably convenient time and place. The statute permits an exam either within or without the State of Illinois, but it must be at a time and place reasonably convenient for the employee. A three hour drive scheduled during your shift is a fair thing to object to.
- Travel money delivered with the notice. For an employee living in Illinois, the employer must deliver, together with the notice of the time and place, sufficient money to defray the necessary expense of travel by the most convenient means, to and from the exam. Not a reimbursement form. Money, up front, with the letter.
- The cost of meals necessary during the trip. Also part of the same obligation.
- Your lost wages. If the exam or the travel to and from it causes any loss of working time, the employer must reimburse you for that loss on the basis of your average daily wage.
If the notice arrives with no travel money, that is not a technicality you should quietly absorb. It is a condition the statute places on the employer’s own request.
You Can Bring Your Own Doctor
Section 12 provides that the examination shall be made in the presence of a duly qualified medical practitioner or surgeon provided and paid for by the employee, if the employee so desires.
Almost nobody does this, because almost nobody knows it is allowed. It is not free, and in a modest claim it may not be worth arranging. In a serious or heavily disputed case, having your own physician observe what was and was not actually tested can matter a great deal later.
Your Right to a Copy of the Report, and the 48 Hour Rule
If you do not bring your own doctor, the statute puts a duty on the employer’s examining surgeon. That surgeon must deliver to you, or to your representative, a written statement of the condition and extent of the injury, to the same extent reported to the employer. The statute requires that it be an exact copy of what the employer received.
The timing is fixed: as soon as practicable, but not later than 48 hours before the time the case is set for hearing. Delivery must be in person or by registered mail, and the receipt is proof of delivery.
There is a real sanction attached. If the surgeon refuses to furnish that statement to the same extent as the one furnished to the employer, the statute says that surgeon shall not be permitted to testify at the hearing next following the examination. An IME report that never reached you is a report the doctor may not be able to defend on the stand.
What Happens If You Do Not Go
Section 12 is direct about this. If the employee refuses to submit to examination or unnecessarily obstructs it, the right to compensation payments is temporarily suspended until the examination takes place, and no compensation is payable for that period.
Note what that does and does not mean. It is a suspension, not a forfeiture: the statute ties the suspension to the period of refusal, and it ends when you attend. But the weeks you lose are weeks you do not get back, and for most injured workers those are the weeks the rent comes out of.
Temporary total disability in Illinois is two thirds of your average weekly wage, subject to a statutory floor and ceiling. Here is what a single suspended week actually costs at different wage levels.
A separate provision, Section 19(d), covers a different failure: an employee who persists in insanitary or injurious practices that imperil or retard recovery, or who refuses medical treatment that is reasonably essential to promote recovery, may have compensation reduced or suspended at the Commission’s discretion. That is about your treatment, not about the employer’s exam, and the two are often confused.
How an IME Report Gets Used Against a Claim
An adverse IME rarely says you were never hurt. It usually says something narrower and more useful to the insurer:
- You have reached maximum medical improvement. This is the most common finding, and it is the trigger for cutting off temporary total disability, because TTD runs while you are still healing.
- The treatment you are getting is not reasonable or necessary. This is used to stop paying for care going forward.
- Your condition is not causally related to the work accident. Degenerative changes and prior injuries are the usual hook.
- Your permanent disability is a smaller percentage than your doctor says. That percentage feeds directly into what the claim is worth. Our Illinois workers’ comp settlement chart shows how a percentage of loss of use converts into weeks of compensation and dollars.
None of these findings is automatically accepted. An arbitrator weighs the IME against your treating physician’s records, and treating doctors often carry real credibility because they saw you repeatedly over months rather than once for an hour. The medical record you build before the IME is usually what decides the fight after it.
How to Prepare for an Illinois IME
- Confirm the notice is complete. Check that it names a time and place that is reasonably convenient, and that travel and meal money came with it. If it did not, say so in writing before the date.
- Go. Whatever is wrong with the notice, do not simply skip the appointment. Raise the problem and reschedule rather than handing the insurer a suspension.
- Write down your history before you go. Dates, mechanism of injury, every body part affected, every prior injury to the same area. Inconsistencies between what you say at the IME and what is in your records become the centerpiece of the report.
- Do not exaggerate, and do not minimise. Describe a normal day accurately. Overstating symptoms is the single easiest thing for an examiner to document, and it damages an otherwise good claim.
- Mention every symptom, including the ones you have stopped complaining about. A body part left out of the IME history is a body part the insurer will argue was never injured.
- Note the time. Record when the exam started and ended and what was physically examined. If a report describes testing that did not happen, that detail matters.
- Keep your receipts and your mileage. They support the travel, meal and lost wage obligations the statute already places on your employer.
- Ask for the report. If you did not bring your own physician, you are entitled to an exact copy, and the deadline is tied to your hearing date.
When to Bring in a Lawyer
An IME notice usually means the insurer is preparing to change something: to stop your TTD, to deny further treatment, or to argue your permanent disability is minor. If your benefits stop after an IME, that is the point at which a disputed claim becomes a litigated one, and the medical evidence has to be developed properly.
Mike Agruss Law handles Illinois work injury claims across the state, including Chicago, Aurora, Waukegan and Champaign. You can read more about how Illinois workers’ compensation claims work, and about whether filing a claim can cost you your job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I refuse an IME in an Illinois workers’ comp case?
Not without losing money. Under Section 12, if you refuse to submit to the examination or unnecessarily obstruct it, your right to compensation payments is temporarily suspended until the examination takes place, and no compensation is payable for that period. The suspension ends when you attend, but the missed weeks are not paid retroactively.
Who pays for an independent medical examination?
The employer. Section 12 requires the examination to be at the expense of the employer, and the employer must also provide travel money and the cost of necessary meals with the notice of the exam.
Do I get paid for missing work to attend an IME?
Yes. If the examination or the travel to and from it causes any loss of working time, Section 12 requires the employer to reimburse you for that lost time on the basis of your average daily wage.
Can I bring my own doctor to the IME?
Yes. Section 12 provides that the examination shall be made in the presence of a duly qualified medical practitioner or surgeon provided and paid for by the employee, if the employee so desires. You arrange and pay for that physician yourself.
Will I get a copy of the IME report?
If you did not have your own physician present, yes. The examining surgeon must deliver to you or your representative a written statement of the condition and extent of your injury that is an exact copy of what went to the employer, no later than 48 hours before your case is set for hearing. A surgeon who refuses is not permitted to testify at the hearing next following the examination.
Is the IME doctor allowed to treat me?
No. A Section 12 examination is for determining the nature, extent and probable duration of your injury and the compensation that may be due. It is an evaluation, not treatment, and it does not replace your own treating physician.
What is the difference between a Section 12 IME and a Section 19(c) examination?
A Section 12 exam is requested by your employer, with a doctor the employer selects and pays. A Section 19(c) examination is ordered by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission on its own motion, performed by a physician from a panel chosen for their special qualifications by the Illinois State Medical Society, and made without cost to either party. The 19(c) report goes to the Commission and to both parties’ attorneys, and either side may call the physician and cross examine.
How much is a week of suspended benefits worth?
It depends on your wage. Temporary total disability is two thirds of your average weekly wage. For injuries on or after July 15, 2026, the maximum is $2,045.63 per week, reached at an average weekly wage of $3,068.45. Minimums run from $400.00 per week with no dependents to $600.00 with four or more.
Sources
- 820 ILCS 305/12, Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, Section 12 (employer may request employee medical examination). Full text of the Act published by the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission: iwcc.illinois.gov
- 820 ILCS 305/19(c) and 19(d), Commission ordered impartial examination and reduction or suspension for refusal of treatment, same source.
- 820 ILCS 305/8(a), employee choice of health care provider, same source.
- Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, benefit rate tables. Rates effective July 15, 2026 through January 14, 2027: state average weekly wage $1,534.22, TTD maximum $2,045.63, TTD minimums $400.00 to $600.00 by dependent count. iwcc.illinois.gov
This article is general information about Illinois law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney client relationship. Benefit rates change twice a year and the facts of every claim differ. If your benefits have been suspended or an IME report has been used to deny your treatment, talk to a lawyer about your own situation.
