If you have been injured or suffering from an occupational disease, the chances are you are focusing on recovering and trying to know the next step to take. Whenever a worker is injured, it becomes an overwhelming experience for them, especially if it is their first time trying to recover workers’ compensation benefits.
At Workers Compensation Lawyers Coalition, we know what to expect when it comes to workers’ compensation claims and when an employee has reached Johns Creek Maximum Medical Improvement.
Since the primary benefit of a workers’ compensation claim is the payment of medical expenses, what happens when a worker has reached MMI. To understand and help protect your right, speak to our Johns Creek workers’ compensation lawyers. We will help you receive the compensation you are legally owed.
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What Is Johns Creek Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)?
Maximum Medical Improvement, which is abbreviated as MMI: – is a legal term that is often used under Georgia workers’ compensation law to describe a point where an injury cannot improve further through medical treatment. It is described as the point where an injured worker is ‘as good/healed as they can’ using standard treatment. As such, MMI is used to determine the value of a claim.
Maximum Medical Improvement does not mean that injury will not continue to improve further with time, but the condition cannot improve further with medical treatment.
Who Determines When An Injured Worker Has Reached Maximum Medical Improvement In Georgia?
According to Georgia workers’ compensation laws, only the authorized treating physician can declare a patient has reached Maximum Medical Improvement. If any other party, like the lawyer, employee, or employer, clears MMI, it will be illegal. In fact, it may attract legal action or other consequences.
It is important to remember that MMI is a state that one can reach after treatment.
Does Medical Treatment Continue After MMI Diagnosis?
After an injured worker has been declared MMI by the authorized treating physician, medical treatment and income benefits may continue. It often applies when the injured worker is restricted to go back to work, or go back to work with restrictions and earn less than they did before the injury.
However, if you are healthy and your injury is not restricting you in any way, then you may go to work without any restrictions. When this happens, the employer’s insurance carrier may suspend the income benefit, even if Maximum Medical Improvement is diagnosed. Although this is the case, there are few exceptions.
NOTE: If your authorized treating doctor diagnoses Maximum Medical Treatment, but you think this is not the truth, you are not forced to agree. According to Georgia workers’ compensation laws, you are allowed to seed for a second opinion from another doctor. If the other doctor says that your injury can be treated, then the workers’ compensation may pay for additional care.
What Happens If You Cannot Return To Work And Perform At The Same Level After MMI Diagnosis?
As an injured worker goes through the workers’ compensation claim for weeks, months, and even years, they are filled with stress, uncertainty, and a whole lot of unknown terms and acronyms. Few examples include claim adjuster, treating physician, nurse case manager, and MMI. However, reaching Johns Creek Maximum Medical Improvement is an important milestone in the whole process.
That is because it plays a role in determining many things like:
- The level of permanent impairment
- Determining if a worker has permanent restrictions that will limit their job to light-duty work
- If a worker can return to work
- The type of disability benefits they qualify to get like TTD, TPD, PPD, or PTD
- At what point does an injured worker eligible to receive PPD benefit
- Future medical treatment needed (such as pain management) and for how long
- The settlement value of the case and more
As such, if it is not possible for the injured worker to return to work, it is possible for them to continue receiving weekly income benefits and medical treatment benefits; according to Georgia compensation law. However, this will run for a maximum of 400 weeks, even when the employee is MMI diagnosed.
Often, the insurance carrier will prefer to settle the matter. If this is the case, it is wise to contact our workers’ compensation lawyers Coalition in John Creek, Georgia. When the time is right to resolve the claim, a worker will be awarded an MMI rating. The rating is what will affect the benefit (either suspend or continue receiving the benefits).
For example, if the authorized treating physician finds that you are healthy enough and can go back to work without restriction, the compensation benefits will be suspended. On the other hand, if you are given a permanent disability rating, it means that you cannot return to work without restrictions. For this reason, you will continue to receive the benefits (mostly income benefits).
For Information About Johns Creek Maximum Medical Improvement, Call Us Today!
If you are not able to get the medical treatment you need before, and after you have reached Maximum Medical Improvement, we are available to answer any question you may have, offer legal advice, and assistance. Since we only handle workers’ compensation cases, we have extensive knowledge, experience, and the skills to get you the medical attention you need.
Our goal is to help the common man get justice and legal rights protection against the giants of this world.
As such, the Workers Compensation Lawyers Coalition team is ready to help John Creek, Georgia residents who have been injured in work-related activities obtain the workers’ compensation benefits they deserve. We offer free initial consultation services where you get the opportunity to ask us any question you may have, listen to your claim, and know the best legal action to take. While working on your workers’ compensation benefits, we will not ask you to pay anything because we work on a contingency basis.
What does this mean? It simply means that we do not get paid if we lose the compensation claim. Call us today to know more.
