|
|
|
|
How does compensation work under the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (LHWCA)?
Once it is determined that the claimant has been injured in the course or scope of employment, the employee is entitled to medical treatment and compensation for disability.
Under the LHWCA, the employer of an injured worker "must provide such medical, surgical and other treatment, nurse and hospital service, medicine, crutches and apparatus, for such period as the nature of the injury and the process of recovery may require".
The United States Secretary of Labor is directed by the Act to prepare an annual list of physicians and health care providers in each compensation district who are authorized to provide medical care under the LHWCA. The employee may choose any attending physician authorized by the Secretary of Labor. If, because of the nature of the injury, the employee is unable to select a physician and the injury requires immediate medical treatment, the employer will select a physician.
After making an initial selection of a physician, the employee may not change physicians without prior consent of the employer, carrier, or District Director of the United States Department of Labor.
There are two types of permanent partial disability compensation methods available:
If the employee has suffered a "scheduled" injury, in other words, one of the specified injuries in the LHWCA, then that employee is compensated a set number of weeks for the total loss of use of the particular member or portion of the body that is involved under the schedule. The partial or full loss of use of the member is calculated on a proportional number of weeks for compensation to be awarded. In other words, if the claimant has a 10 percent permanent partial disability to an arm, and the total loss of use of the arm is worth 312 weeks of compensation for total loss or total loss of use, the injured claimant would be entitled to 31.2 weeks of compensation. The compensation for partial loss of use of a scheduled member is based on medical evidence in evaluation.
If the type of injury is a "non-scheduled" injury, the compensation is limited to 66 2/3 percent of the employee's wage earning capacity loss as measured by the difference between the employee's average weekly wage and the employee's wage earning capacity after the injury in the same or other employment. Types of non-scheduled injuries are shoulder injuries, neck injuries, or back injuries.
Claimants who suffer from permanent total disability are entitled to 66 2/3 percent of their average weekly wage for as long as they remain permanently and totally disabled. A claimant is permanently and totally disabled if totally without earning capacity at any job. The determination of total disability, therefore, is an economic as well as a medical question. Important factors that must be taken into consideration in determining the extent of the claimant's disability are age, education, industrial history, and whether there is any type of employment the claimant can perform after the injury. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FREE CASE REVIEW |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
State Law Center
|
Legal Resource Directory
|
Legal Articles
|
Insurance Advice and Quotes
|
FreeAdvice Answers
|
Community Forums
