PPI – Permanent Partial Impairment

Transcript: Hi, I’m Indiana personal injury attorney David Holub.

We have several blog posts about social security disability and how to obtain that type of benefit from the government. This video is going to discuss what’s called permanent partial impairment or permanent disability benefits that can be obtained through workers compensation if you’re injured on the job or suffer from a disease that is caused from working on a job.

For workers compensation, the type of benefit that we are discussing in this video is sometimes called permanent partial impairment or PPI for short. Under workers compensation law in Indiana, PPI or permanent partial impairment is dealing with a significant impairment or loss of use of a limb or body part or body function that arises from a work related injury. A medical doctor needs to determine permanent partial impairment through a detailed medical exam that follows a specified pattern of examination of the patient.

A PPI benefit is the type of benefit that can be obtained if a person is impaired but not entirely prevented from working in some capacity notwithstanding the impairment.

If a person is so disabled that they’re not able to work at all in any capacity, such as being in a wheelchair permanently or suffering a permanent paralysis. These things, of course, are very difficult to prove in some cases. That person may qualify for up to 500 weeks of total temporary disability benefits. In some cases, such as loss of a limb, there are also other benefits that can be obtained. If you think you might be qualified for PPI benefits and the insurance company is refusing to deal with you, call an attorney for advice. There’s a wealth of free information available online on the subject, including at the Indiana Workers Compensation state-sponsored website. But we acknowledge that sometimes the publicly available information is not easy to understand and the mechanics of how you go about obtaining a medical opinion in a PPI rating are sometimes difficult to understand. For example, a doctor needs to support his or her opinion with evidence and not just a simple note saying, “My patient can no longer work.”

Strong evidence will be needed to present your case to a hearing board so that a determination can be made on whether you are entitled to a permanent partial impairment payment.

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