Getting hurt on the job often means a lot of stress and short-term adjustments. You may need to take some time off of work to recover, which could affect your household budget for several months. You may need to arrange to have someone else handle household responsibilities, like childcare or cleaning, that you cannot fulfill because of your medical issue.
In extreme cases, those with work-related medical issues may need to change professions. For example, if you develop carpal tunnel syndrome after years of gripping tools on the job and can no longer perform manual job tasks, you might need to move to a customer service job that pays barely more than minimum wage.
You know that workers’ compensation will take care of you while you are on a leave of absence from work and that it will also pay for your medical care. Will it help you if your work-related medical condition permanently reduces your earning potential?
Yes, you could qualify for permanent partial disability benefits
When people think of permanent workers’ compensation benefits, they often think of someone left unable to work for the rest of their lives. However, there are also partial disability benefits that you can secure if you have long-term or permanent symptoms.
Typically, an in-depth medical evaluation is necessary for you to affirm the limitations caused by your work-related medical issue. Provided that you will have lasting symptoms and that those symptoms will affect your ability to continue working, you may qualify for partial, permanent disability benefits. Although they won’t fully replace your lost wages, they can reduce the financial impact of your injuries on your household budget.
Getting permanent benefits can be a challenge
The more an insurance claim will cost, the more scrutiny it will face from the insurance provider and the employer paying for the policy. When you need long-term or permanent benefits, the cost for the claim can be substantially higher than when you only need a few weeks away from work to recover.