Sometimes, in any given case, we can litigate various issues throughout the life of the case. That is why you must ensure you understand your rights and be informed of what you are entitled to. After a while, once you have received it, a doctor will declare that you have reached what is called permanent and stationary status. You have reached MMI. This is as good as it gets. They tried to fit, yeah, they have been attempting to cure you, they have tried to rehab you, and you have reached the apex. This is as good as it is going to get maximum medical improvement. At that point, you begin the permanent phase. When you start the permanent stage, the doctor will make three recommendations that will significantly impact you and your life moving forward.
First, if you reach 100% back to normal status when you reach maximum MMI (maximum medical improvement), then congratulations, you are back to normal. You can go back to work. Your life goes on as usual, and that is the best-case scenario, and that is what we are looking to achieve in these cases, but unfortunately, that is not always the case. Sometimes, when you reach maximum medical improvement, you can no longer lift the weight you could. You can no longer stoop, bend over, or work with your arms raised above your shoulder.
Moreover, those things lead to impairment, and that is the kind of thing that will have a life-lasting effect. So, when you reach that junction, the doctor will give you three recommendations. The first one is something called supportive care, and in essence, that means moving forward for a certain amount of time. The doctor will award you supportive, caring treatment or medical treatment not meant to get you back to 100%. That is not meant to be rehab. You simply meant to monitor your condition. Moving forward may mean three or four visits to the doctor per year. Perhaps it represents a set of injections moving forward. Maybe it means medication pain. Medication is to help you deal with the pain you will have for the rest of your life. That is supportive care, not meant to fix you but to support you. That is why they call it supportive care.
When the doctor gives you supportive care, you must ensure you agree that the supporting care award is adequate. If it is unacceptable, you must speak up immediately because you only have 90 days to protest the inadequacy of supportive care. That is number one. Number two, the doctor will give you a percentage impairment rating. The American Medical Association provides a book called the AMA Guides. In essence, based on your physical or mental status, this book determines your impairment percentage and the doctor you go to. You must select your doctor very carefully. That is an important point, but your doctor must be very well-versed in the AMA guides when you choose. They have to understand how to rate the impairment because that determines your compensation. So, your doctor will give you a rating. If the doctor gives you a rating and you believe it is incorrect, you have 90 days to protest that rating. You must be aware that this impairment rating determines a lot in terms of your compensation once you reach MMI.
Let us recap. The doctor will give you a supportive care award and give you an impairment award.If you have one, you will receive compensation based on the type of injury you have, and this is where it gets even overly complicated and may be too complex to discuss. There are two types of compensation systems. Once you reach this place, there are scheduled injuries and unscheduled injuries.
Scheduled injuries have to do with your limbs. Whether your upper extremity or your lower extremities. Your legs and your arms. Based on the percentage of impairment, if you have a scheduled injury to your arms or legs, the rate of impairment would determine what your compensation is going to be. It is as simple as black and white. You have a three percent impairment to one of your fingers; the guides determine what your compensation is going to be. Whereas if the injury is to your neck or back, that is not a scheduled injury. That is an unscheduled injury, and there will be a loss of earning capacity analysis that it has also done overly complex and extraordinarily little too dense, but in essence, once you make the loss of earning capacity analysis, that will determine what your compensation will be per month for the rest of your life. A scheduled injury is paid for a certain number of months depending on what the body part that was injured in an unscheduled injury is paid per month for the rest of your life based on a loss of earning capacity analysis.
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