Workers Compensation – Indemnity – Medical
Maryland Workers Compensation Indemnity Payments / Compensation and medical treatment
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Maryland Workers Compensation in a nutshell
Workers Compensation is provided to Maryland employees by employers as a form of insurance to help the employees if they are injured while at work. Workers Compensation Insurance is mandatory for employers who have 2 or more employees in the state of Maryland. There are two primary components to any Maryland workers compensation case- those of medical benefits and those of indemnity benefits. Without a Maryland attorney it is highly likely that an injured worker will go without obtaining all the benefits to which they are entitled and to which their employers have paid for the injured worker to use.
Indemnity Payments in Maryland Workers Compensation Cases
Indemnity payments have proven to play a vital role in the workers comp process because they allow an injured worker to take sometime off of work for treatment and recovery while not have to be concerned about how the next rent payment will be made or how they will continue to pay the mortgage, life expenses, and unexpected costs. Under Maryland workers compensation law the workers comp insurance company is obligated to pay employee lost wages while recovering. In addition to the lost wages another form of indemnity payments are called permanency payments. Outside of these two forms of indemnity payments, there is another form of payment that is debatable as to whether it is considered indemnity or medical. Vocational rehabilitation payments are made to injured workers while they undergo a job search program or job training program.
Lost wages/ Temporary Total Disability and Temporary Partial Disability
Lost wages are one of, if not the most critical form of indemnity payments an injured worker will receive under Maryland workers compensation law. There are two forms of lost wages. One is referred to as Temporary Total Disability (TTD) payments. The other is referred to as Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) payments.
Temporary Total Disability (TTD) is payed to injured workers who are held out of work by their treating physician for a period of time so that they can rest. The workers comp insurance company will be obligated to pay the injured worker at a rate of 2/3 or 66.66% of their gross average weekly wage while the injured worker is being held out of work by the treating physician.
Temporary Partial Disability (TPD) is paid to an injured worker while they miss time from work because they are placed on light duty and are not able to work their previous work schedule. If an employee is only able to work 3 days of their usual 5 day schedule then Maryland workers compensation law allows them to be paid for a portion of the time they missed. In this example they would be paid for four days. For further explanation on TPD click this link.
One very important thing that injured workers and their families need to know is that these payments are not guaranteed and are quite often difficult to obtain without the help of an attorney. The workers comp insurance companies can and will contest or challenge cases which lead to a delay in these payments for months at a time. This delay can have devastating affects on injured workers and their families. If the insurance adjuster indicates that they are getting a second opinion, IME, or are investigating the case then a workers compensation attorney should be consulted immediately.
Permanency Payments/ Permanent Partial Disability and Permanent Total Disability Payments
Permanency Payments come at a time when treatment has finished or when the injured worker is at a point of needing only palliative treatment to maintain their status quo. In essence permanency payments pay injured workers for any permanent damage the injury caused. This form of indemnity is more of a compensatory type of indemnity when compared to lost wages. Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) is awarded by a Maryland workers compensation Commissioner after a hearing takes place. They are paid at a determined amount of dollars for a determined amount of weeks. Ultimately the PPD payments will be issued to the injured worker on a weekly basis for a closed period of time. Contradictory to its name, “Permanent” Partial Disability payments are not paid permanently and are only issued for a closed period of time. For more on PPD payments go here.
Permanent Total Disability (PTD) payments are similar to PPD payments in that they are issued by a Commissioner after a hearing takes place. In the rare instance that an injured worker is determined to be permanently totally disabled the injured worker would be paid for life as long as they do not recover at sometime in the future. Permanente Total Disability is very rare and is only awarded in cases with there is no reasonable chance the injured worker will return to work in any beneficial way to society or the injured worker.
Medical Payments in Maryland Workers Compensation Cases
We have briefly discussed “Indemnity” in workers compensation however the Medical component to workers compensation is quite different as it is a benefit that the injured worker does not directly financially benefit from yet enjoys the ability to receive medical treatment without paying for the treatment. A warning- as in indemnity- these medical treatment payments are not guaranteed as the workers compensation adjuster and insurance company have the right to challenge the case and challenge the need for medical treatment. This often results in detrimental delays in treatment and thus delays in recovery. If there is any treatment delays a workers compensation attorney should be contacted immediately.
Payment of Medical treatment can include the cost of physical therapy, surgery, injections, medications, alternative therapies, therapeutic devises, consultations, diagnostics, and oddly enough, travel expenses. For further discussion on Medical treatment see this article.
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