Impairment Ratings

"...it is estimated that by the AMA Fourth Edition criteria she will have approximately 35% impairment rating to the foot."


Does anyone know what this means?  What exactly does 35% impairment rating mean? This was included in a letter of permanment disability after my ankle fusion surgery.

[jdesouza]

Hi,
The physician uses guidelines to determine the percentage of function lost by the foot due to the injury / condition. In this case you have lost 35% of foot functionality due to the injury.  You can then look at your states worker compensation laws to ascribe a value to this loss in functionality and this is what is used to determine any compensation due back to you.
Hope that helps.

[Phill614]

Good morning, i had an impairment rating on my wrist 2 months ago, a 33% total body impairment but with some crazy calculations it came down to 20%.  my companies insurance carrier is disputing the 20% because of having to pay out supplemental income benefits if required.  there's some sites that you can ask workers compensation questions. this may not be much help but this what happened to me.  

[skmedlin27703]

Thanks so much... it helps it make more sense.... I was a little lost about its meaning at first... thanks again for helping me understand...