May v. Broward Correctional Institution

BARFIELD, Judge.

The issue in this appeal of a workers’ compensation order denying a claim for attorney fees under section 440.34(3)(a), Florida Statutes (1983), is whether attendant care benefits are medical benefits. We find that they are, and reverse the order.

The deputy commissioner rejected the claimant’s theory that her claim for attendant care services, provided for the most part by her daughter, was a claim for “medical benefits only” so as to entitle her to an award of attorney fees under section 440.34(3)(a). The term “medical benefits” is not specifically defined in chapter 440.…