PERMANENT PARTIAL DISABILITY (PPD) BENEFITS

Weekly PPD benefits are 66 and two-thirds percent of the AWW, subject to the maximum (but not the minimum) rate limits described above. An employee may be entitled to receive weekly PPD benefits if a work-related injury results in:

• Serious and permanent physical disfigurement; 
• Permanent hearing loss solely due to a single traumatic accident; 
• Serious, permanent impairment of the usefulness of the physical function of the respiratory system, the gastrointestinal system or the genitourinary system within the thoracic or abdominal cavities;
• Inguinal hernia (under limited circumstances); or
• Permanent loss or impairment of one or more of the body parts that are listed in the WCL’s PPD Schedule.

SCHEDULED PPD

For permanent loss or impairment of a body part that is listed in the WCL’s PPD Schedule, the number of weeks for which an employee may receive PPD benefits depends on the affected body part and the extent of the impairment or loss.

The longest period of time listed in the PPD Schedule is 200 weeks, for the complete loss of an arm. If an employee has only a partial loss to a listed body part, the number of weeks depends on the percentage of impairment, as determined by a physician based on the “American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment.” For example, if a physician determines that an employee sustained 40 percent impairment to an arm, the employee would be entitled to PPD for 80 weeks (40 percent of 200 weeks).

UNSCHEDULED PPD

For permanent disabilities or impairments to body parts that are not listed in the PPD schedule, an employee may receive PPD benefits for up to 100 weeks, depending the injury and extent of impairment.

MORE INFORMATION

Contact Defy Insurance or visit the OWCA website for more information on workers’ compensation laws in Louisiana.

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