Now that its all over what does this mean

[Frosty24]

ppi rating and degree really confused

What is the name of your state? Indiana
I was wondering if anyone could help me understand a few things 1st of all my wife in on w/c and was off work 20 weeks had surgey on both hands and then surgery on both elbows 2 times and she is back to work now the dr said she'll never be the same but it is better than before the Dr has give her a ppi of 20% to both arms and a 5 degree on one of her arms what does this mean the Dr said she is done as far as having anything else done they wont get any better and she can do her just just not as fast and has to take brakes often.and also whenit comes to a settlement is the 5 degree to the 1 arm the same as the 20 % to both arms or is that 2 different amounts

 

[ellencee]

Frosty
This ain't gonna be easy...

PPI=permanent partial impairment. Your wife has a 20% ppi of both arms. The physician then gives a 'degree' of impairment based on the number of degrees in the whole body, which is 100 degrees. Each body part has a set number of degrees assigned to it. The physician has stated that the arm, probably meaning each arm, has a 5 degree impairment to the body's normal function (100 degrees).

The degree of ppi is used to calculate how much money will be paid for the impairment. For each degree of impairment, the employee receives a sum of money determined by a schedule contained in the Workers Compensation Act of your state (Indiana).

The last information that I find for your state is $1,300 for 1-10 degrees of impairment; it may be slightly more for injuries received in 2003 or 2004. It would not make a difference for both arms to have received a 5 degree rating as 5 degrees pays equal to 10 degrees. This is a final compensation amount, over and above medical expenses and lost wages.

I hope that helps in understanding the correlation between ppi and degrees.

EC