How to Apply for PTD Benefits
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) defines Permanent Total Disability as “the inability to perform sustained remunerative employment due to the allowed condition in the claim.”
To simplify: it means you have a total impairment, can’t work, can’t earn an income, this is unlikely to change, and you’re going to need lifetime compensation—all because you were hurt on the job.
To qualify for workers’ compensation PTD, you must prove two facts:
- You aren’t going to recover further from your injuries.
- You can’t do any job that would bring in a steady paycheck.
To prove your condition is permanent, you’ll provide extensive medical evidence, including doctor’s reports, courses of treatment and your response to treatment.
In most cases, the doctor—who is certified by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to oversee your treatment—must declare you have reached “maximum medical improvement,” or MMI, meaning that further treatment won’t change your impairment.
At the same time, you have to show you can no longer work not just at your former job, but ANY job. If the doctor certifies that this is the case, you can apply for PTD.
The other challenge applying for PTD is timing. When you’re seriously hurt or get sick on the job, you can’t work, and you seek workers’ compensation benefits, you usually start with Temporary Total Disability Compensation (TTDC).
It is not advisable in most cases to apply for PTD when you’re receiving TTDC because your doctor can’t certify that you have a temporary disability and permanent disability at the same time.
Most injured workers wait until their TTDC period ends before applying for permanent total disability.
Also, it’s best not to have your doctor declare that you’ve reached MMI, the point when no further recovery is expected. The problem with your doctor finding MMI is that it cuts off your TTDC compensation.
Because it can take several months to get an Industrial Commission hearing on a PTD application, you will be without money for a long time because your TTDC ended.
Rather than having your doctor find that you’re at MMI just so you can apply for PTD, let the Industrial Commission to decide you have reached MMI.
It’s critically important that you don’t miss deadlines. The HNB workers’ compensation lawyers help you keep your case on track. We’ve helped thousands of injured Ohio workers.
If you’re considering applying for PTD or have any questions about your workers’ compensation case, get in touch. We’ll evaluate your situation for free.
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