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Were you working on-the-job and ended up becoming permanently injured due to an accident? If the injury took place at work or happened while completely work tasks, you may be eligible for permanent disability benefits through workers’ compensation. If you have a lasting injury that qualifies for medical treatment throughout your lifetime, you will need a way to provide for your family. In your time of need, you can turn to various benefit options.
How Do I Find Out If I Apply for Short-Term or Long-Term Disability Insurance Benefits?
Do you pay for premiums through your workplace? If so, you could be eligible for either depending on the circumstances. However, if you are seeking long-term benefits, there are processes you will need to go through and a waiting period of 60 to 720 days. Long-term disability can replace a portion of your wages for up to five years or age 65, however, permanent disability lasts for the remainder of your life if this is a better option for you.
Am I Eligible For Permanent Disability?
You must first be able to show that your injury happened at work or because of your work to qualify. Consider a situation in which you were at an offsite business meeting on work hours or picking up something for your employer at their discretion – this could be considered on-the-job and you would, in fact, be eligible. If you have an injury sustained from exposure to something like asbestos and your medical condition doesn’t surface right away but rather over an amount of time, you could still qualify. However, there are exceptions at times. For instance, using drugs, engaging in horseplay, or violating policies would possibly get you denied for permanent disability benefits.
There are more considerations to keep in mind when apply for permanent disability benefits. For instance, you will need to have reached a consistent point in your recovery – this means that, if your condition is not expected to improve with treatment, you could get benefits. This is called “maximal medical improvement” or MMI. A doctor may tell you that you have reached MMI anywhere from a month to two or three years after the injury has occurred. When you have reached this point, you will no longer receive temporary disability benefits and the workers’ comp carrier will assess whether or not you have lasting impairments and cannot return to work.
The truth of the matter is that it may be difficult to make a determination of if you have a permanent disability or not. Some injuries that happen on-the-job will leave you with obvious impairments, while others will not. You will be compensated on things that you have a limitation on possibly for the rest of your life, such as injuring your back from years of heavy lifting. If you have a lasting impairment that will limit your ability to compete in the job market, you should get monetary compensation to make up for it. You should contact a workers’ compensation lawyer on any occasion, and especially if you workers’ comp insurance agency says that you aren’t owed permanent disability due to the fact that you don’t have any lasting impairments. You are entitled to certain rights that you deserve! Contact RAWA Law Group today for more information.