3 Types of Workers’ Compensation Permanent Partial Disability
Georgia Worker’s compensation permanent partial disability is a disability benefit to compensate for three types of losses:
Loss of specific scheduled member
Loss of use of specific scheduled member
Unclassified or “body as a whole” impairment
Permanent Partial Disability Benefits in Georgia
Permanent partial disability benefits are not due if you are receiving weekly income benefits. In other words, you cannot receive weekly TTD or TPD benefits at the same time as permanent partial disability benefits in Georgia.
Permanent Partial Disability Benefits in Georgia
However, once your entitlement to TTD or TPD benefit ends, you are potentially entitled to PPD benefits. The employer and insurer have 30 days after which you may be entitled to PPD benefits to have you rated for an impairment rating. Once the employer and insurer acknowledge the PPD rating, they are required to commence payment of PPD benefits within 21 days.
Permanent Partial Disability Benefits Schedule in Georgia
PPD benefits are based on a schedule that sets forth a certain number of weeks to which you may be entitled for loss, loss of use of each portion of the anatomy in question. Also, the maximum weeks for loss of use or total loss for the arm is 225 weeks, 225 weeks for the leg, and 300 weeks for disability of body to a whole. Finally, there are other bodily loss and body parts included in the schedule, however these are the most common.
Georgia Permanent Partial Disability Calculations
You are entitled to benefits for PPD for each permanently impaired individual body part specified in the schedule which was injured on the job. In Georgia, you will sometimes be sent for a Functional Capacity Evaluation for a specific rating. However, more often than not you may be given an estimated rating by a physician.
For example, if you sustained a back injury and a doctor assigned a 10% whole person impairment rating, it is calculated as follows: 300 weeks x .10 (10%)= 30 weeks. Then 30 weeks is multiplied by your weekly compensation rate to get the amount of PPD benefits owed.
Example: Compensation rate of $500. Doctor assigns 10% whole person impairment rating:
300 x .10 = 30 weeks of PPD benefits
30 weeks x $500 = $15,000 in PPD benefits owed
Georgia Permanent Partial Disability Examples
If you sustained a knee injury, usually those ratings are assigned in terms of a lower extremity impairment rating. For instance, if you sustained a 15% lower extremity impairment rating the rating rates as follows: 225 weeks x .15(15%)=33.75 weeks. Then 33.75 weeks is multiplied by your weekly compensation rate to get the amount of PPD owed.
Example: Compensation rate of $400. Doctor assigns a 15% lower extremity impairment rating:
225 x .15 = 33.75 weeks of PPD benefits
33.75 weeks x $400 = $13,500 in PPD benefits owed
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Free Phone Consultation with Beth Gearhart
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