Overview of Permanent Partial Disability (PPD) Benefits

When are they payable?

As I discussed in a previous post, there are three types of weekly benefits that may be payable to an injured worker after a work accident.  The previous post focused on TTD and TPD benefits, which are payable if the injured worker has suffered a disability due to his or her work accident. The third type of benefit, commonly abbreviate as "PPD," is only payable after the injured worker is no longer receiving TTD or TPD benefits. In other words, if you're currently receiving either TTD or TPD benefits, you cannot also receive PPD benefits at the same time.  

What is the purpose of PPD benefits?

Before I go any further, it's important to note the different purposes the three types of benefits serve under the law. While TTD and TPD benefits are paid to injured workers to compensate them for their diminished earning capacity due to the injury (loss of income), PPD benefits compensate injured workers for (1) the entire loss of a body part; (2) the loss of the use of a body part; or (3) the impairment to the injured worker's "body as a whole."

How is the amount of PPD benefits determined for each injury?

This can get a little complicated, so I'll try to keep this brief. The amount payable for a particular injury is based upon a percentage of impairment (often called an "impairment rating" or "PPD rating") which is assigned by the authorized treating physician ("ATP") to a particular body part or the "body as a whole." To determine the percentage of impairment, the ATP is required to consult the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. For example, if you've injured your arm, the ATP will apply his knowledge of your treatment and your current condition to the AMA Guides and determine the percentage of impairment, such as 15%.  This percentage is then matched with the number of weeks assigned to each body part by Georgia law, which ranges from 20 weeks for a toe injury to 300 weeks for a back or whole body impairment.

For our example, the law states that you could receive up to 225 weeks of PPD benefits for the impairment of an arm (if you lost the arm completely, you would receive 225 weeks of PPD benefits). For a 15% impairment rating, you would be entitled to 33.75 weeks of PPD benefits (this is 15% of 225 weeks).  One more thing--the precise dollar amount of an injured worker's weekly PPD benefit, just like TTD or TPD benefits, is determined by the worker's compensation rate.