Law Firm Blog

How Long Can I Receive Workers' Compensation Benefits?

Since the law recently changed on this point, the answer may surprise you.

Recently, lawmakers significantly extended the time length for temporary disability workers’ compensation benefits. Lost wage replacement, medical bill payment, and other benefits now last up to 104 weeks (two years). The extension avoids the maximum medical improvement conundrum in many cases. Permanent partial disability benefits are available for a specific amount of time, usually until age 65. In most cases, permanent total disability benefits last until age 75.

Workers’ compensation benefits are available, but they aren’t there for the taking. To obtain these benefits, a Tampa workers’ compensation lawyer must diligently collect evidence and prepare a solid legal case. Otherwise, a Claims Examiner may deny the claim outright, or victims must settle their claims for pennies on the dollar later in the process.

Temporary Disability Benefits

Before the law change, temporary disability job injury benefits usually lasted about six months. This brief length of time often was not long enough to fully recover from catastrophic injuries. As a result, many victims ran out of benefits before they hit MMI (maximum medical improvement) and possibly qualified for permanent disability benefits.

Assume Dave was in a bad car crash, and doctors almost had to amputate his legs. Instead, Dave stayed in one piece and went to physical therapy. However, a few weeks of physical therapy was not long enough to regain full legal function. Since he still had a ways to go and the insurance company cut off benefits, Dave would be financially responsible for the rest of his treatment, at least in most cases.

The workers’ compensation benefits extension solved this problem. But it didn’t solve a false MMI determination, which is a related problem.

Frequently, job injury victims do not steadily progress through physical therapy. When they plateau, insurance companies pressure company doctors to use the MMI tag. That tag cuts off temporary benefits and, in most cases, allows the recovery of negligible permanent partial disability benefits.

A Tampa workers’ compensation lawyer advocates for job injury victims during MMI determinations. Most injured workers would much prefer to have 100% physical ability to receive a tiny check in the mail.

Permanent Disability Benefits

Temporary disability lost wage benefits often fluctuate. The lost wage replacement benefit must account for non-cash and irregular compensation, like missed matching 401(k) contributions and missed performance bonus milestones.

Permanent disability lost wage replacement benefits fluctuate as well. These benefits must account for income increases over the years. For this reason, a Tampa workers’ compensation lawyer often partners with accountants and other outside professionals in these situations.

The victim’s RFC (residual functional capacity) often determines the amount of disability lost wage replacement benefits. Many disabled individuals continue progressing in their careers almost as if nothing happened. For others, a partial disability is more like a permanent disability. They cannot work at their usual jobs and have few other options available, mostly because of their educational and vocational backgrounds.

Medical bills fluctuate as well. Serious injuries or illnesses are never “healed” or “cured.” They simply lie dormant for a period, perhaps months, years, or decades. If a workers’ compensation settlement does not account for probable future medical expenses, victims are financially responsible for these costs, at least in most cases.

Work With a Diligent Pasco County Workers Compensation Lawyer

Victims need and deserve compensation for their serious injuries. For a confidential consultation with a board-certified workers’ compensation lawyer in New Port Richey, contact the Rooth Law Firm. We routinely handle matters throughout the Sunshine State.