Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, once an injured worker receives total disability benefits for 104 weeks, the insurer can request an Independent Rating Evaluation, or IRE. When they do, you will receive an LIBC form called “Request for Designation of a Physician to Perform an Impairment Rating Evaluation”. An independent doctor is assigned by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to perform an exam. The doctor then uses the American Medical Association’s Guides to Evaluation of Permanent Impairment to determine the degree of your impairment. If the doctor decides you have an impairment rating less than 50%, your benefit status is changed from total disability to partial disability. This means that you can only receive wage loss benefits for 500 weeks. Other factors can change how your wage loss benefits last (link: https://www.pa-workers-comp-lawyers.com/how-long-will-my-pennsylvania-workers-compensation-wage-loss-benefits-last). If the doctor determines that you have an impairment rating of more than 50%, your wage loss benefits can continue indefinitely. You can challenge or appeal the IRE doctor’s impairment rating evaluation, but only during a certain period of time.
If you have questions regarding your workers’ compensation benefits, it is important that you have an experienced Harrisburg workers’ compensation attorney on your side. Call Calhoon and Kaminsky P.C., at 717-695-4722, for more information.
