Nevada Workers' Compensation Law Blog : Nevada Workers' Compensation Lawyer & Attorney : Virginia Hunt Law Firm : Las Vegas Job Injuries & Worker Accidents

Last week the Nevada Supreme Court unanimously decided that rating doctors evaluating injured workers with spinal injuries can add one to three additional percentage points to the permanent partial disability award if the rating doctor finds that the spinal injury has substantially impaired activities of daily living (ADL's). The Nevada Self-Insurers Association had filed a lawsuit naming the Nevada Attorney for Injured Workers and the Nevada Division of Industrial Relations, arguing that  a section of the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment allowing for impairment of ADL's  violated Nevada law.  A district court judge agreed with the Self Insurers, and entered an order back in June 2008 that allowed insurers to withhold payment of that portion of an injured worker's award for ADL's until the Nevada Supreme Court decided the appeal.  Injured workers were then put in the unfair position of having to wait until the Nevada Supreme Court decided the case if they wanted to accept their award in a lump sum payment.  Most injured workers could not wait and ended up losing their percentage points for ADL's so that they could accept their permanent partial disability awards immediately.  

Click on this link to read the complete decision by the Nevada Supreme Court.  If you are an injured worker who chose to wait for the Nevada Supreme Court to decide this case and did not accept your PPD award in a lump sum, you should contact your adjuster if you do not receive a new PPD offer that includes the ADL's award within the next 30 days.  The Division of Industrial Relations has notified all third-party administrators that they are to comply with the Nevada Supreme Court's decision.   Click these links for more information on how permanent partial disability awards are calculated, or information on how to contest an award and get a second rating.

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The State of Nevada, Division of Industrial Relations, has approved the Nevada Medical Fee Schedule effective February 1, 2010.  It provides that rating physicians are entitled to charge $650.99 for a rating evaluation that includes up to two accepted body parts.  The rating doctor may charge an additional $217.41 for each additional body part.  Injured workers who contest the initial rating evaluation obtained by the industrial insurer are required to adhere to this fee schedule when obtaining a second rating evaluation from a second rating doctor.  However, pursuant to NRS 616C.100,  a hearings or appeals officer may reimburse the injured worker the cost of the second evaluation if the hearings or appeals officer finds that the second rating should be used as the basis for the permanent partial disability award.

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Under Nevada workers' compensation law, the final settlement, called a  permanent partial disability award (PPD) is based on 3 factors: 1) the percentage of impairment found by a rating doctor, 2) the average monthly wage of the injured worker, and  3) the age of the injured worker when the award is calculated.  If the average monthly wage was calculated correctly on the claim, and the insurer has the correct age for the claimant,  the  percentage of impairment offered by the insurer is the only basis an injured worker has  for challenging the  amount of the PPD award.  Both the injured worker and the insurer can disagree with the percentage of impairment the rating doctor finds. However, injured workers  who file  appeals of their PPD awards, arguing only that the amount of money offered is too low, almost always lose their appeals. 

An injured worker must be able to show a specific error in how the rating doctor determined the percentage of impairment in order to win an appeal regarding  the amount of the PPD award.  Or, if the insurer is refusing to offer the PPD percentage recommended by the rating doctor, the injured worker needs to be able to argue why that percentage is correct.  A review of the PPD award by an experienced  Nevada workers'  compensation attorney is necessary to help an injured worker with a serious,permanent injury decide whether an appeal should be filed or not, and whether money should be spent getting a second rating report.   Many workers' compensation lawyers in Las Vegas will review a rating report for free as part of a free initial consultation.

Rating doctors must use a book called the AMA Guides to Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (currently the 5th edition) to determine the PPD percentage.  The Guides are complex.  Many rating physicians, especially new doctors added to the list,  make mistakes.  While the Division of Industrial Relations is supposed to check PPD reports,  it is really up to the injured worker  and her work comp lawyer to find any errors, and to then file an appeal and get a second rating within 70 days.   Injured workers frequently think that the rating doctor has made a math error in adding the percentages in the last section of the report.  An experienced work injury lawyer can explain to an injured worker that  the Guides have charts requiring  that numbers be combined rather than added to arrive at the right percentage.  

If the injured worker' decides to contest the PPD award, he must first file a timely appeal   on the request for hearing form provided with the PPD offer.  Next, his attorney obtains the name of a rating doctor from the rotating list from DIR.  The attorney then sends a complete copy of the client's medical records to the assigned rating doctor, schedules an appointment for the rating exam, and pre-pays the current fee for a rating.  The fee for a rating,  effective 2/1/09 through 1/31/10 is $630.80. ( When hiring a work comp attorney, an injured worker should ask whether the lawyer goes with his or her clients to rating evaluations.)  

If the second rating doctor finds a higher percentage of impairment, the report is sent to the insurer.  If the insurer won't pay the higher PPD, the hearing officer may, or may not, award the higher PPD when the appeal is heard.  There is no guarantee that the second rating doctor will find a greater percentage of impairment.  If the second rating is lower than the first, the injured worker simply withdraws the appeal, and accepts the amount that the insurer has previously offered.  The hearing officer may, or may not order the insurer to pay any higher percentage, and the hearing officer can order the insurer to reimburse the injured worker for the cost of the second rating.  Both the insurer and the injured worker have the right to appeal the hearings officer's decision to an appeals officer. 

A hearings officer or appeals officer may order a third rating with either a mutually agreeable rating doctor or the next assigned rating doctor from the rotating list.  An injured worker is usually prevented from receiving any portion of his PPD award in a lump sum if the amount of the PPD is appealed, so the injured worker  will want to make sure that he or she has been advised by an experienced Nevada workers' compensation attorney before deciding to litigate this issue.  Once the injured worker elects to receive a PPD award in a lump sum and is paid, there is nothing that can be done to correct any wrong percentages of impairment.  As it costs the injured worker nothing to have the PPD offer reviewed by a knowledgeable attorney in Nevada workers' compensation law, it would be unwise to accept an award without first knowing whether it is correct or not.

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When an injured worker's treating physician reports to the insurer that there may be a permanent impairment, the adjuster should schedule an impairment evaluation with a rating doctor. The impairment percentage determined by the rating doctor results in a monetary settlement known as a permanent partial disability award (PPD).  Rating doctors are chiropractors and physicians who have taken a test on how to determine permanent impairment using the criteria in the AMA Guides to Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (currently the 5th edition).  Those doctors' names are on a rotating list of rating doctors  maintained by the State of Nevada Division of Industrial Relations.

If the injured worker or his attorney do not agree with the adjuster on a particular rating doctor to do the exam, the adjuster must schedule the exam with the next doctor assigned from the rotating list.  A chiropractor may perform the rating exam if the injury is to the musculoskeletal system (spine, knees, shoulders, feet, hands, etc.).  If the injury is to internal organs or is very complex, only a medical doctor will be assigned.   Only qualified eye doctors rate vision impairment.  The rating doctor cannot be a doctor who has treated the injured worker or who has been asked to do a consultation.

The rating takes place at the doctor's office. The adjuster is responsible for sending all of the medical records before the exam.  However, it is not unusual for records to be missing.  Almost all rating doctors allow the injured worker's attorney to be present for the exam.  The insurer must pay for the initial rating, and the cost of a rating depends on the number of body parts injured.  Effective for 2/1/09 through 1/31/2010, the cost for up to two body parts is $630.80.

The AMA Guides give detailed instructions to the rating doctor on how to determine an impairment percentage for each body part.   Many injuries are rated by measuring how much motion is lost in the joint.  Some injuries are easy to rate, such as amputations. However, most injuries require multiple measurements and depend on the doctor's ability to apply the Guides correctly.  There are often significant differences in rating percentages depending on which doctor is doing the exam.

Not every injury requiring a surgery is ratable.  An injured worker's ability to return to work is not used to determine impairment. Pain is not ratable, but injuries to particular nerves can be rated.

The rating doctor sends his report to the insurer within 14 days of the exam.  The insurer must then make a written offer within 14 days of receiving the report.  The offer must be based on the percentage of impairment determined by the doctor, or the insurer must explain in writing why the insurer disagrees with the percentage.  Injured workers who disagree with the percentage given by the rating doctor, or with a lesser percentage offered by the insurer, may file an appeal and obtain a second rating from another rating doctor assigned from the rotating list. (For more information go to the blog "I Disagree with My PPD Rating".)

The PPD award is calculated by using the percentage of impairment given by the rating doctor, and the average monthly wage of the injured worker, and the injured workers age at the time of the award.  It is necessary to have the actuarial tables and the correct statutory formula to correctly calculate the award. (See DIR forms 9a and 9b).   Injured workers with the same percentages of impairment for the exact same injury will receive different PPD awards depending on how much money they were making at the time of their accidents, and how old they are.

An injured worker may accept a PPD award in a lump sum, or may elect to receive the award in installments until she is 70 years old.  Awards taken in a lump sum are reduced to present value. If the injured worker's impairment was greater than 25%, only the equivalent of a 25% PPD can be taken in a lump sum.  The percentage over 25% is paid in installments.

Although the PPD percentage is not based on an injured worker's ability to return to work, the percentage does govern the length of a retraining program that can be offered if the injured worker is entitled to vocational rehabilitation services.  (See blogs and articles on vocational rehabilitation for more information.)

Please note that this is only a summary of how permanent partial disability awards are determined in Nevada.  Pertinent statutes andregulations are:  NRS 616C.100, NRS 616C.490, NRS 616C.495,  NRS 616C.110, NAC 616C.1162, NAC 616C.103.  Many attorneys offer a free review of a PPD rating report for signs of obvious errors.

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