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Temporary Total Disability (TTD) and Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)

July 12, 2016

Understanding the two main types of disability under PA Workers’ Compensation law

The two main types of disability under Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation law are Temporary Total Disability and Permanent Partial Disability. If you are not able to do any type of work, you should be placed on temporary total disability.  If you can do some type of modified or light duty work, you should be placed on permanent partial disability. Both temporary total disability and permanent partial disability will provide bi-weekly compensation checks and will pay for your provable, reasonable and necessary work-related medical bills. The decision as to which type of benefit you will receive will be based on the severity of your injury, whether or not it is a permanent injury, whether or not you can do any type of work, and the number of hours you can work and whether or not you are missing any significant(formerly regular) overtime.

We will negotiate with the insurance company to get the best possible benefits for you.  If we cannot successfully negotiate with the insurance company, a Workers’ Compensation Judge may have to decide which benefits you should receive, if any, after many hearings.

In addition to permanent partial disability, you could collect benefits for:

1)  specific loss, or

2)  disfigurement.

Specific loss benefits are based on medical testimony stating that you have suffered a loss of use, for all intents and purposes, of a certain body part.  The workers’ compensation law provides for the payment of a specified number of weeks of benefits for various body parts.

If medical tests determine that you have a measurable hearing loss as a result of your work environment, you may have a claim for specific loss of hearing.  Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Law, you do not have to miss work in order to qualify for a work-related hearing loss, provided the medical testing supports such a finding.

You can receive specific loss benefits even if you have returned to work. For example, if you have lost your finger in a work-related accident, but the loss of that finger does not keep you from returning to your job, you can receive specific loss benefits for a certain number of weeks, in addition to your paycheck, as determined by a Judge.

Disfigurement benefits work in a similar way.  Disfigurement benefits are awarded for permanent, severe and disfiguring scars and marks to the head, face, and neck above the collarbone. The disfiguring scar or mark can be the result of surgery, such as the removal of a disc from your neck.

If you have been disfigured as a result of a work-related injury, such as a scar on your face, that scar could be worth a certain number of weeks of benefits to be determined by the Judge.

You may collect specific loss or disfigurement benefits in addition to permanent partial disability benefits.  You cannot collect specific loss or disfigurement benefits if you are receiving temporary total disability.

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