Maintenance and Cure
Maintenance and Cure are ancient maritime remedies for seamen who are injured or fall ill while in the service of a vessel. The "Cure" doctrine requires the vessel owner to pay for the seaman’s medical treatment until the seaman reaches "maximum medical cure." Maintenance is supposed to give the seaman with the wages he or she would have earned to the end of the voyage and enough compensation to provide the seaman with room and board comparable to that provided on the vessel, although seamen are entitled to maintenance payments even if they did not live or sleep aboard the vessel.
Under most circumstances, if a seaman is injured or falls ill while "in the service of the vessel," the employer must pay maintenance and cure even if the employer was not at fault, or sometimes even when the illness or injury is not related to your employment.
Injured seaman are typically mystified when their paycheck ends and "maintenance" begins. This is particularly understandable when the employer sets a maintenance rate of $15 per day, or worse. Many courts have ruled that $15 per day is unreasonable, but it takes a thorough knowledge of maritime law to get a higher rate.
If you are a seaman and your employer is not paying your medical bills or not paying enough maintenance for you to get by, give us a call. We will be happy to listen to your story and see if you may be entitled to more benefits than you are currently receiving.