Disability Benefits for Permanent Impairment (Partial or Total)

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An injured employee may receive compensation for any permanent impairment caused by the work injury. There are two types of permanent impairment disability benefits offered under the statute: Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) or Permanent Total Disability (PTD).

Permanent Impairment Evaluation:

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To determine a permanent impairment disability, the employee is required to furnish and submit a permanent impairment evaluation conducted by a qualified doctor or physician designated and approved by the Commission. To facilitate an examination, FORM MED-02 must be provided to the examining doctor. All permanent impairment examination and ratings must be facilitated as follow:

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• Permanent impairment evaluations shall be based on guidelines set by the American Medical Association for permanent impairment unless determined as otherwise by the Commission.

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• No impairment rating shall be awarded and assigned for both a permanent partial and permanent total impairment disability.

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• Impairment rating assigned as "whole-person" or "whole-body" will not be considered for any compensation unless such rating is being converted to specify the percentage assigned to each specific bodily area being impaired.

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• No permanent impairment evaluation shall be conducted if the employee have not reached the clinical Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) date as determined by the evaluating doctor. An MMI date means the injury has not completely healed but the patient has been given all possible medical treatments and options available. Therefore, the patient’s injury has improved as much as it can and that such injury may no longer improve regardless of the on-going medical treatment. The following clarifies how PTD and PPD are respectively compensated. 

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Permanent Total Disability (PTD):

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Permanent Total Disability (PTD) refers to any impairment that is fully disabling. In the absence of conclusive proof to the contrary, any loss or loss of use of both hands, or both arms, or both feet, or both legs, or both eyes, or any two thereof shall be constitute as a PTD. In all other cases, PTD shall be determined in accordance with the facts. This is where a permanent impairment evaluation is required and must constitute a permanent impairment percentage rating of 100% in order to be considered for PTD. A percentage impairment rating of 100% determined by a qualified doctor indicate the employee is no longer capable to perform his or her ordinary work functions and such employee has totally loss all capacity to perform his or her current or any future employment.

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To compensate any disability adjudged as PTD, only 66-2/3% of the employee's average weekly wages shall be paid during the continuance of such disability. PTD compensation is suspended when the employee voluntarily resumes employment (or medically cleared to resume any occupation).

Permanent Partial Disability (PPD):

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Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) refers to any impairment that is not fully disabling. It means an employee can perform the same work functions but is unable to perform under same full capacity as before or during pre-injury. Impairment percentage ratings assigned for PPD ranges between 1% to 99%.

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Not all permanent partial injuries are compensated under the A.S. Workmen's Compensation Act. Partial injures to certain bodily parts or members have been scheduled with a determined set of compensation weeks when awarded, especially the limbs. However, for all other partial injuries to parts of the body not specified or scheduled under the law shall first require the employee to provide and furnish proof for any loss in wage-earning capacity in order for such injuries to be considered for PPD compensation.

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All scheduled partial injuries and the allowable number of compensation weeks as determined by law are specified under A.S.C.A. §32.0609. The compensation of these scheduled permanent partial injuries shall be 66-2/3% of the employee's average weekly wages. For the compensation of all other partial injuries not specified under this schedule as prescribed under A.S.C.A. §32.0609(b), a proof of loss in wage-earning capacity is required and the compensation shall be two-thirds of the difference between the employee’s average weekly wages and his wage-earning capacity thereafter in the same employment or otherwise payable during the continuance of such partial disability.

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