Frequently Asked Questions

There are generally five types of workers’ compensation that a worker may be entitled to:

1. Medical benefits
2. Temporary Total Disability ('TTD') benefits/Temporary Partial Disability ('TPD') benefits
3. Permanent Partial Disability ('PPD') benefits
4. Vocational rehabilitation
5. Death benefits for surviving family member

In a compensable workers' compensation claims, the employer (or their insurer) is required to pay for all medical care that is necessary to cure illness or relieve its injured employee from the effects of the injury. This includes, but is not limited, the following:

• First aid
• Emergency care
• Doctor visits
• Hospital care
• Surgery
• Physical therapy
• Pharmaceuticals
• Prosthetic devices
• Prescribed medical appliances/devices

In a compensable workers' compensation claim, the employer (or their insurer) is required to pay the injured employee two-thirds (2/3) of his/her Average Weekly Wage in the following scenarios:

1. The injured employee's physician(s) has determined that he/she is temporarily unable to return to any work; and
2. The injured employee's physician(s) has determined that he/she can only return to work with restrictions, but the employer is either unable or unwilling to accommodate said restrictions. 

An injured employee may be entitled to Temporary Partial Disability benefits if they are still healing and are working light duty, part-time, or earning less than they would before injury or illness. 

An injured employee who has reached maximum medical improvement is entitled to compensation for the permanent damage caused to his/her body as a result of their work accident:

• Disfigurement – for example, a scar with no other residual injury
• Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)
  • Every body part is assigned a number of weeks.  The Commission determines what percentage of loss you suffered for that body part
  • If you suffer an amputation, you would recover 100% loss of that body part
  • In addition to body parts, there is a classification for “person as a whole.”  This represents injuries to the back, neck, head, internal organs, etc.
• Loss of earning capacity for someone who is unable to return to their occupation at the time of injury and can only perform a job earning less money
• Permanent Total Disability for someone who is not capable of ever returning to any type of work