Permanent Disability Benefits
Permanent Disability Benefits
You may be entitled to Permanent Disability benefits.
Permanent Disability
Many of our clients often ask, what is permanent disability? What does it mean? Do I qualify for it? How does it apply to my workers’ compensation case? These are all excellent questions, yet we’ll not be able to cover them all in this short article. The short answer is permanent disability benefits is a biweekly payment made usually in the amount of $580. The actual amount varies, but does not exceed $580, depending on the injured worker’s preinjury earnings.
One Should Not Confused Permanent Disability with Disability Payments During Course of Medical Treatment
In a typical workers compensation case, an injured worker receives medical treatment from the company’s doctor, which is provided by the insurance company. During the course of medical treatment, the injured worker may qualify for disability payments. If applicable, these payments are made to the injured worker so long as he/she is not discharged by his/her primary treating doctor. The interesting thing about these payments is that the injured worker usually doesn’t need to pay them back. However, when an injured worker is discharged and a final permanent disability given any additional payments made by the insurance company will be deducted from the injured workers final settlement.
Permanent and stationary (Maximum Medical Improvement)
Once an injured worker is discharged by his primary treating doctor because he/her was deemed permanent and stationary (i.e., one’s condition reaches maximum medical improvement status) permanent disability payments will usually commence. It should be noted, that even though an injured worker may be receiving medical treatment from several doctors in different specialties, usually, the injured worker’s primary treating doctor, or in some cases a panel qualified medical examiner doctor, will make the final determination on whether the injured worker’s condition is deemed permanent and stationary. This is important, because once the injured workers’ condition is deemed permanent and stationary the disability payments will cease and permanent disability payments will typically start.
How Much Should An Injured Worker Expect to Receive In Permanent Disability Benefits?
Depending on the injured worker’s earnings, the short answer is $580 every other week. However, these payments will usually not be paid to the injured worker indefinitely. In any given case, the final report issued by the injured worker’s primary treating physician, or by a panel qualified medical examiner, will dictate what the final percentage of permanent disability is and how much in total an injured worker can expect to receive from the insurance company.
Do I Have to Speak With An Attorney?
Yes. First, one should consider the fact that calculation of the permanent disability percentage can be a bit confusing to understand and, in some cases, very complex even for trained attorneys depending on their overall level of expertise and experience. Another thing one should consider is that once his/her case is ready to settle the insurance company and their lawyers will get extremely aggressive and try to deduct and recover all payments made for permanent disability. Here, to protect his/her client’s interest, an experienced workers compensation attorney should investigate all possible exceptions to make sure the insurance company is NOT taking more credit for permanent disability payments made against the injured workers’ settlement than they should. Therefore, getting a free consultation with an experienced attorney is strongly recommended.
So call now for immediate help: 877-244-6727
Why Choose US :
- Expertise: We have many years of experience helping insured workers to obtain the benefits they deserve.
- Value: You don’t pay unless we win your case.
- Efficiency: We guarantee comprehensive legal assistance in the workers’ compensation arena when you need it the most.
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Disclaimer
The content and views expressed herein is for information only and may not be accurate AND does not constitute legal advice or legal representation. If you have questions, you should contact our office immediately or should speak with an attorney as soon as possible.