§11.26 Permanent Partial Disability

LibraryWorkers' Compensation Law Deskbook Vol. 2 (2020 Ed.)

B. (§11.26) Permanent Partial Disability

What is the value of an injury? Workers’ compensation laws in general allow for both work and nonwork disability. Nonwork disability includes recreation, performance of household tasks, and other aspects of personal and family life. There are three conceptual theories for PPD benefits:

1. Physical impairment

2. Loss of earning capacity

3. Wage loss

Missouri uses loss of earning capacity as its base and combines and considers elements of the other two.

The physical impairment theory equates impairment (a medical term for an anatomical or functional abnormality, such as 15 degrees loss of flexion of the back) with PPD without considering how losing use of the injured body part affects the worker’s activities, either work or nonwork. The benefit of this theory is its simplicity. Unfortunately, it fails to measure an injury’s impact on a worker’s life; for example, an electrician who loses three fingers will be compensated for the loss of those fingers even though the electrician may never be able to work as an electrician again, but a lawyer with the same injury will get the same percentage of disability for an amputation but not lose their livelihood. The “physical impairment only” approach fails to compensate workers for nonwork disability. The AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (6th ed. 2007) recognizes these problems and states so in its introduction.

The wage loss theory has been adopted by just a few states. In those states, workers who suffer no actual wage loss from a work-related accident or disease get no compensation for PPD.

The loss of earning capacity requires a case-by-case approach that evaluates the effect of a disability on the life of a particular worker. Missouri essentially uses this theory in determining...

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