Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-5 (2026)

Medical services provided by employer

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section RI-LEGwebserver.rilegislature.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

The employer shall, subject to the choice of the employee as provided in § 28-33-8, promptly provide for an injured employee any reasonable medical, surgical, dental, optical, or other attendance or treatment, nurse and hospital service, medicines, crutches, and apparatus for such period as is necessary, in order to cure, rehabilitate, or relieve the employee from the effects of the employee’s injury. Irrespective of the date of injury, the liability of the employer for hospital service rendered under this section to the injured employee shall be the cost to the hospital of rendering the service at the time the service is rendered. The director, after consultations with representatives of hospitals, employers, and insurance companies, shall establish administrative procedures regarding the furnishing and filing of data and the time and method of billing and may accept as representing the costs for both routine and special services to patients, costs as computed for the federal Medicare program. Each hospital licensed under chapter 17 of title 23 that renders services to injured employees under the workers’ compensation act, chapters 29 — 38 of this title, shall submit and certify to the director, in accordance with requirements of the administrative procedures established by him or her, its costs for those services. The employer shall also provide all medical, optical, dental, and surgical appliances and apparatus required to cure or relieve the employee from the effects of the injury, including, but not limited to, the following: ambulance and nursing service, eyeglasses, dentures, braces and supports, artificial limbs, crutches, and other similar appliances; provided, that the employer shall not be liable to pay for or provide hearing aids or other amplification devices.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 38 cases, 1959–2019 · leading case: Proulx v. French Worsted Co., 199 A.2d 901 (R.I. 1964).
Proulx v. French Worsted Co., 199 A.2d 901 (R.I. 1964). · cites it 29× “No permission was sought for any of these five operations as provided in G.L. 1956, § 28-33-5, which reads as follows: "The employer shall subject to the choice of the employee as provided in § 28-33-8, promptly provide for an injured employee such reasonable medical, surgical,…”
Tirocchi v. United States Rubber Co., 224 A.2d 387 (R.I. 1966). · cites it 9× “1956, §§28-33-5 and 28-33-8, as amended. When toe cause came to be heard by a single commissioner, respondent questioned toe .”
Bello v. Zavota Bros. Transp. Co., 504 A.2d 1015 (R.I. 1986). · cites it 8× “1956 (1979 Reenactment) §§ 28-33-5 and 28-33-8 of the Workers’ Compensation Act.”
Bissonnette v. Fed. Dairy Co., Inc., 472 A.2d 1223 (R.I. 1984). · cites it 5× “1956 (1979 Reenactment) § 28-33-5. A hearing on the petition was held before a trial commissioner.”
Jobin v. Am. Drilling & Boring Co., Inc., 374 A.2d 799 (R.I. 1977). · cites it 6× “1956 (1968 Reenactment) §28-33-5, as *482 amended by P.L. 1971, ch.”
McAree v. Gerber Prods. Co., 342 A.2d 608 (R.I. 1975). · cites it 4× “1956 (1968 Reenactment) §28-33-5, which requires that the employee obtain permission prior to any major surgery to be entitled to have his employer pay for the surgery.”
Thomas v. Rhode Island Insurers' Insolvency Fund, 814 A.2d 335 (R.I. 2003). · cites it 4× “An employee is also entitled to “medical expenses” under - § 28-33-5, which provides in pertinent part: “The employer, subject to the choice of the employee as provided in [G.”
Savaria v. DiSano, 373 A.2d 820 (R.I. 1977). · cites it 3× “1956 (1968 Reenactment) §28-33-5, 2 he now *359 seeks to be provided with an electric wheelchair and an automatic lift or elevator.”
McCoy v. Cataldo, 148 A.2d 267 (R.I. 1959). · cites it 10× “From a decree of the full commission in each case affirming the decree of the single commissioner granting each petition, the respondents have filed a claim of appeal to this court.”
Geigy Chem. Corp. v. Zuckerman, 261 A.2d 844 (R.I. 1970). · cites it 2× “1956, §28-33-5, as amended by P. L. 1968, chap.”
Lemoine v. Coby Glass Prods. Co., 341 A.2d 40 (R.I. 1975). · cites it 6× “1956, §28-33-5 1 for the cost of a wig she used *87 for about a year to cover a bald spot on her scalp resulting from a 1968 industrial accident.”
Izzi v. Royal Elec. Corp., 216 A.2d 363 (R.I. 1966). · cites it 5× “1956, §28-33-5, as amended, the pertinent portions of which read as follows: “The employer shall, subject to the choice of the employee as provided in §28-33-8, promptly provide for an mjured employee such reasonable medical, surgical, dental, optical or other attendance or…”
R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-5(a): 1 case
Thomas v. Rhode Island Insurers' Insolvency Fund, 814 A.2d 335 (R.I. 2003). “An employee is also entitled to “medical expenses” under - § 28-33-5, which provides in pertinent part: “The employer, subject to the choice of the employee as provided in [G.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.