ATTENDANT SERVICES
Attendant care, as authorized by RCW 51.32.060(14) [RCW 51.32.060(3)], is not limited to "constant" care nor is it restricted to a worker so "physically helpless as to be unable to care for his personal needs" as stated in WAC 296-20-091. A blind worker need not rely on the charity of others to provide the basic necessities of life, nor can payment for those services be denied merely because they are provided by the worker's spouse. ....Delbert Johnson, 89 0398 (1990) [Editor's Note: The Board's decision was appealed to superior court under Whatcom County Cause No. 90-2-00872-6.]
A worker is not precluded from receiving attendant care services under RCW 51.32.060(5) [now RCW 51.32.060(3)] even though the worker is receiving discretionary medical care under RCW 51.36.010, so long as the services are not duplicative. ....Ovide DuBois, 34,754 (1970) [See also RCW 51.32.072]
Whether the worker "requires" the services of an attendant is determined by an evaluation of the worker's physical condition and not by the financial ability to pay for such services or by the willingness of family members to provide the needed care. ....Agnes Knoell, 24,242 (1967) [dissent]
A psychiatric condition, the manifestations of which are physically incapacitating, may satisfy the statutory requirement of "physical helplessness", entitling the worker to attendant care services. ....Agnes Knoell, 24,242 (1967) [dissent]