Workers’ compensation benefits for a work-related injury or medical condition can be temporary or permanent. You can receive temporary benefits while you are receiving medical treatment until you have fully recovered or have reached maximum medical improvement (MMI), at which point you may still be able to receive permanent benefits based on your impairment rating. Impairment ratings are based on a doctor’s determination that you have suffered loss of use and/or function of one or more specific body parts.
Workers’ compensation insurance companies calculate permanent partial wage replacement compensation benefits based on your permanent impairment rating, your average monthly wage, and permanent work restrictions. These impairment ratings may be scheduled or unscheduled, based on whether they are set forth in the Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS).
For scheduled injuries, benefits are paid monthly to an injured worker for a fixed period. For unscheduled injuries, benefits may be paid for life, but these are subject to change if there is a change in your condition or earning capacity. Whether your impairment is scheduled or unscheduled can be complex to determine, so it is crucial that you contact Matt Fendon Law Group.
In this post, we consider how impairment ratings factor into how much you may receive for a workplace injury. To learn more about how impairment rating evaluation works, or to initiate a workers’ compensation claim in Arizona, call Matt Fendon Law Group at (800) 229-3880 or reach us online.
How Does Arizona Determine Your Impairment Rating?
The American Medical Association (AMA) Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment is an important source that doctors, patients, insurers, and regulators use as the accepted authority to assess and rate permanent loss of function in your body, based on a whole-body analysis.
This guide does not consider your job function, so an impairment rating is not the same as a disability rating, which evaluates your ability to work.
Arizona currently uses the 6th edition of the AMA Guides.
What are Scheduled Impairment Ratings?
Scheduled impairment injuries are listed in ARS 23-1044(B). Examples of scheduled impairment ratings include those for fingers, toes, eyes, ears, hands, feet, arms, and legs.
For scheduled impairments, compensation is set based on a schedule that assigns a specific number of months of benefits for each injury type.
- If the scheduled body part has been totally impaired (100%) because of amputation or total functional loss, the injury is compensated at the rate of 55% of your average monthly wage. For example, a total loss of a hand is compensated at 55% of your average monthly wage for 50 months for the dominant hand, or 40 months for your non-dominant hand.
- Partial loss of use impairments are compensated at 50% of your average monthly wage for a proportional number of months based on the severity of the impairment.
The table below sets forth the kinds of scheduled impairment ratings you can receive under Arizona workers’ compensation.
| Injured Body Part | Months of Compensation |
| Separation or complete loss of use of a thumb | 55% of average monthly wage for 15 months |
| Separation or complete loss of use of a first or “index” finger | 55% of average monthly wage for 9 months |
| Separation or complete loss of use of a second finger | 55% of average monthly wage for 7 months |
| Separation or complete loss of use of a third finger | 55% of average monthly wage for 5 months |
| Separation or complete loss of use of a fourth finger | 55% of average monthly wage for 4 months |
| Loss of one phalange bone in a thumb or finger | Half the period above for the appropriate injury |
| Loss of two or more phalange bones in a thumb or finger | Same as for the loss of the entire corresponding finger |
| Separation or complete loss of use of a great or “big” toe | 55% of average monthly wage for 7 months |
| Separation or complete loss of use of any other toe | 55% of average monthly wage for 2.5 months |
| Loss of the first phalange of any toe | Half the time period above for the affected toe. |
| Loss of more than one phalange bone in any toe | Same as for the loss of the entire corresponding toe |
| Separation or complete loss of use of a hand | Major/dominant hand: 55% of average monthly wage for 50 months Minor hand: 55% of average monthly wage for 40 months |
| Separation or complete loss of use of an arm | Major/dominant arm: 55% of average monthly wage for 60 monthsMinor arm: 55% of average monthly wage for 50 months |
| Separation or complete loss of use of a foot | 55% of average monthly wage for 40 months |
| Separation or complete loss of use of a leg | 55% of average monthly wage for 50 months |
| Loss of one eye by enucleation (a surgical procedure that removes the entire globe of the eye and its intraocular contents but leaves the eye muscles and remaining orbital contents intact) | 55% of average monthly wage for 30 months |
| Permanent and complete loss of sight in one eye, without enucleation | 55% of average monthly wage for 25 months |
| Permanent and complete loss of hearing in one ear | 55% of average monthly wage for 20 months |
| Permanent and complete loss of hearing in both ears | 55% of average monthly wage for 60 months |
| Partial loss of use of a finger, toe, arm, hand, foot, or leg Partial loss of sight or hearing | 50% of the average monthly wage during the proportional number of months provided for total loss of use of the same finger, toe, hand, foot, or limb. The proportion is based on the proportion of total loss that the partial loss represents. If the worker cannot return to the work that person was performing at the time of the injury, then compensation is 75% of the average monthly wage. |
| Permanent disfigurement of the head or face, including loss of or injury to teeth | An amount the ICA deems just for up to 18 months, if the Commission decides that compensation is just based on proof submitted by the worker |
What are Unscheduled Impairment Ratings?
Injuries that do not appear as scheduled impairments under Arizona statutory law are unscheduled. The difference here is that unscheduled impairment compensation does not use a fixed schedule; instead, the Industrial Commission of Arizona (the ICA) determines your compensation based on factors including:
- Your lost earning capacity
- Medical evidence of your physical limitations
- Your average monthly wage and any current wages you may be making
The ICA calculates unscheduled permanent partial compensation according to the following formula: 55% x (your average monthly wage – your post-injury earning capacity)
Unscheduled impairments are not compensated based on the numerical value assigned by the AMA Guides. Instead, the important consideration is whether the impairment is anything more than 0%. If it is, and it is not covered by the statutory schedule, the inquiry is whether the injury resulted in work restrictions that impact your earning capacity.
Examples of Unscheduled Impairments
- Impairments affecting the shoulder are considered unscheduled.
- A hip impairment is unscheduled.
- If an impairment rating is assigned to two or more body parts not on the same extremity, the claim is unscheduled.
- If you have a prior industrial scheduled impairment rating and then you experience a subsequent impairment to a scheduled body part, the second impairment will automatically be unscheduled when the prior impairment affects a different extremity or body system. The prior impairment need not be a result of injury, and congenital defects are included.
How an Experienced Workers’ Comp Law Firm Can Help With Your Impairment Rating
Under Arizona law, determining your type of impairment (scheduled or unscheduled) and your impairment rating and benefits in Arizona can be complex.
You may need to undergo medical evaluations, and the calculations are subject to statutory schedules and ICA administrative decisions.
Having the assistance of an experienced Arizona workers’ compensation attorney is helpful in ensuring you receive the maximum compensation amount to which you are entitled.
Our highly experienced workers’ compensation lawyers at the Matt Fendon Law Group will handle your workers’ comp case so you can worry less about how your benefits are calculated and more about your recovery.
Call us today at (800) 229-3880 or use our contact form to schedule a free workers’ compensation consultation with one of our workers’ compensation specialists.
