What kind of benefits am I entitled to, and for how long?
Once you reported your injury with your employer, and the workers’ compensation insurer approved your claim, you should be entitled to wage loss benefits depending on your work and health status.
First, your benefits are limited by your work restrictions. The following benefit types are for those injuries occurring on or after Oct. 1, 2018, and are payable at two-thirds of the difference between what the employee earned at the time of the injury and the current earnings—called your Average Weekly Wage.
If you are unable to work because of your work-related injury, you would be entitled to Temporary Total Disability benefits, or TTD. Injured employees, who are completely restricted by a doctor from working or if your employer cannot accommodate your restrictions, are entitled to 130 total weeks of benefits.
TTD eligibility may be interrupted in a variety of ways:
- if you return to work,
- if you leave your job for reasons other than the injury,
- if you are released to return to work, and fail to make a diligent job search,
- if you refuse an offer of gainful work, or another position consistent with an approved rehab plan,
- if it is 90 days since you reached maximum medical improvement, or 90 days after an approved retraining plan, whichever is later, or
- any other grounds to suspend or discontinue benefits.
If you return to work with restrictions, you would be entitled to Temporary Partial Disability benefits, or TPD. Injured employees who are partially restricted from work are entitled to 275 total weeks of benefits.
Benefits are due within 10 days when the employee or employer sends wage verification, i.e. pay stubs.
If your treating provider has declared you permanently disabled, you could be owed Permanent Partial Disability benefits, or PPD. This type of benefit is payable for the permanent function loss of use of the body part based on a disability schedule set by the Minnesota Administrative Rules—your treating provider will assign a disability rating (percentage) using the disability schedule based on the severity of your injured body part.
PPD benefits can be paid at the same time as TPD, PTD, but not with TTD benefits.
PPD benefits are usually paid when TTD ends and when the employee reaches maximum medical improvement.
What do I do if the insurer has discontinued my wage loss benefits?
The insurer must serve you a letter titled a Notice of Intent to Discontinue benefits, or NOID for short. As of the date of the letter, you have 12 days to request a conference with a judge at the Court of Administrative Hearings to review your claim. You do not have to wait for the letter to consult with an attorney.
If there is no letter, you should request a conference by contacting the Court of Administrative Hearings within 40 days of the date the insurer should have sent the NOID letter.
Time is of the essence, so call 833-601-0583 for a free, no-obligation consultation.
By: Nansy M. Mekhail
