Significant changes to the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act occurred with the passage of Act 57 in 1996, creating the impairment rating evaluation, or IRE, which an employer may utilize to convert the status of a claimant’s benefits from total to partial disability should the IRE result in a “whole body impairment” of less than 50 percent, according to the most recent edition of the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. This statutory provision mandates that, unless otherwise agreed to, an employee will be required to submit to a medical exam to determine the percentage of impairment, if any, at the expiration of the employee’s receipt of 104 weeks of total disability compensation.
In situations where the employee’s status has changed to partial as a result of an impairment rating of less than 50 percent, a claimant is limited to 500 weeks of partial disability benefits, although the amount of compensation does not change. This provision enables employers to limit their exposure under the act.
Justices Agree to Hear IRE Case
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
