If you get hurt or sick on the job so severely that it permanently reduces your working capacity, you may be eligible to receive permanent disability benefits through workers’ compensation. However, the exact value of those benefits will depend on the disability “rating” given to you by your doctors, which can be a much more subjective value than many people might assume.
While Las Vegas assessment of impairment ratings have a big impact on the outcome of workers’ comp claims, there is also a lot you can do as a claimant to push for more benefits based on this rating. Here is a broad overview of how this part of the workers’ comp claims process works, each aspect of which our attorneys can explain to you in more detail during a free initial consultation.
When Are Impairment Ratings Given During Workers’ Comp Claims?
Importantly, not every injury or illness that justifies a workers’ comp claim will have an impairment rating assigned to it at any point in the claims process. To start with, physicians will not even attempt to assess a worker’s level of impairment until that worker is in stable condition and has reached maximum medical improvement (MMI). This means that their doctors do not believe their condition will meaningfully improve in the future regardless of how much time passes or what medical care they receive.
In addition, impairments are only ratable in Nevada if they significantly interfere with the affected worker’s ability to perform some or all of their normal job duties or if their injury has left them with one or more missing body parts. While severe disfigurement can sometimes be considered a ratable impairment in Las Vegas if it directly affects a worker’s employability, injuries that result only in chronic pain without any other negative long-term effects typically do not qualify as impairments for the purposes of workers’ comp benefits.
Basic Criteria for Assessing a Worker’s Impairment Level
Impairment ratings for Las Vegas workers’ comp claims are assessed on a percentage scale from zero percent to 100 percent, with the former signifying no disability whatsoever and the latter signifying total disability preventing the affected worker from holding any gainful employment. If someone has a permanent disability that negatively impacts their working capacity but does not entirely prevent them from working, their physician(s) will assign a level of impairment to each affected body part and average those percentages to get an overall impairment rating.
The value of permanent partial disability (PPD) benefits awarded to someone disabled in this way depends not just on the impairment rating assessed to the affected worker but also on their age and average weekly income at the time they were hurt. A qualified legal professional can provide vital help with estimating what amount of benefits may be available in a particular situation and potentially with pushing for a more fair rating that accurately reflects your degree of disability.
Learn More About Assessment of Impairment Ratings from a Las Vegas Attorney
Getting all the benefits you need from workers’ comp can be difficult under any circumstances, especially if the injury you seek will never fully heal. Along similar lines, you will want to have a complete understanding of every part of the workers’ comp claims process to get the best possible result from your case, which means knowing how the Las Vegas assessment of impairment ratings works.
Seek guidance from our experienced workers’ comp lawyers, who have obtained positive results on behalf of people just like you. Call Shook & Stone today to learn more.
