Hart Law's logo
How Insurance Companies Try To Rip Off Injured Workers: A Series – Volume 5: Impairment Ratings

How Insurance Companies Try To Rip Off Injured Workers: A Series – Volume 5: Impairment Ratings

In Arkansas, some workers’ compensation injuries are considered, by law, to be “permanent,” and some are not.  If an injured worker has a permanent injury, he or she may be entitled to receive a permanent impairment rating that is worth money, in the form of permanent disability benefits.  Impairment ratings are usually determined by a doctor (they can also be calculated by a Judge) who uses a book to do so that is filled with complicated tables, graphs, numbers, and charts.

Sometimes, doctors simply get the impairment rating wrong.  Often, insurance companies will try to get out of paying an impairment rating, either in whole or in part, by alleging that the rating is invalid under Arkansas law or failing to request permanent impairment all together.  Many times, an insurance adjuster will write an injured worker who has a permanent impairment and explain the rating incorrectly; misstate the law; miscalculate the benefits owed; and/or advise that the carrier is only paying some or even none of the impairment rating.  One reason insurance companies do this is because they know most injured folks have no idea about how impairment ratings work, and no idea how to correctly value them.  Insurance adjusters also know that if there’s no impairment rating, the injured worker is going to have a very difficult time asking a Judge to award benefits for a loss of earning capacity; permanent total disability; and/or vocational retraining.  These benefits can be very valuable.

If you already have a permanent impairment rating; are in the process of getting one; think you might have one; or think you may deserve one, we’d be glad to visit with you about ratings and your rights, any time.

By:    Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law

Loss of Future Earning Capacity in Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Law: What Happens If I Get Injured and Then Can’t Get a Good Job?

Of all the benefits available to injured workers under our Workers’ Compensation Act, this is one of the most valuable.  Unfortunately, insurance companies rarely pay out wage-loss disability benefits voluntarily.  In fact, in order for the insurance folks and their lawyers to ever pay what they owe in this regard, they basically have to be forced to do so.  Needless to say, it becomes very difficult for an injured worker acting alone in a claim to get this done.

If an employee suffers an injury that causes disability to the body as a whole (usually neck, shoulder, hip, back, skin and/or head); the injury qualifies for an impairment rating under the AMA Guides; and the employee has permanent work restrictions making it so he or she can’t return to previous employment, that employee is entitled to ask a Workers’ Compensation Judge for an award of benefits based upon a loss of future earning capacity.  As a simple example of how this could work, if a diesel mechanic making $20.00 an hour suffers a back injury; gets a 10% whole-body impairment rating; is assigned permanent, light-duty work restrictions; and is only able to get a job that pays $10.00 an hour, a Judge might find that the employee in this example has suffered wage-loss disability of 50%, since he or she is only able to make half of the pre-injury wage.  This can add up to some big bucks, really fast.

If you’ve had a work injury and think you’re going to have to take a pay cut, give us a call.  We’d be happy to visit with you and give you honest, real, straightforward advice on how you may be able to make a wage-loss disability claim.

Neal L. Hart, Attorney at Law