I received a report from the treating physician assigning a 15% whole person disability. How does this translate into benefits we must pay to the injured employee?
We do not pay indemnity benefits based on a “whole person” impairment. There are two possible areas of the benefit law that may apply to your case. Assuming that the employee, even with this impairment, is able to earn 90% of his pre-accident earnings, then the only possible area of benefit obligation would be for a permanent partial disability (PPD) under our schedule [R.S. 23:1221(4)]. However, the schedule does not provide an award for “whole person” ratings and does not have any provisions for ratings that are assigned due to injuries to the low back or neck. You should also know that any weekly benefits that are owed under our PPD section are subject to a credit (week for week) for any other indemnity benefits that have been paid (such as temporary total disability). Assuming that this is an injury that has rendered the employee unable to physically perform all of the pre-accident duties and has caused him to be unable to earn 90% of his pre-accident earnings, then you have a case
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