CHANGES RESULTANT FROM OHIO S.B. 7
A significant piece of legislation was recently enacted by the Ohio Legislature. This new law makes a number of significant changes to the Ohio workers’ compensation system. The changes are mainly in the areas permanent total disability, permanent partial disability, wage loss, injury definition, and continuing jurisdiction.
- I. Permanent Total Disability
A. The new law acts as a legislative overruling of the Price decision in PTD claims. It provides that an injured workers’ average weekly wage may no longer be recalculated solely for the reason that the injured continued working following the injury (and wages, therefore, increased).
B. The new law overrules the Thomas decision by providing that the total loss or total loss of use of one limb does not constitute the loss of loss of use of two body parts sufficient for a statutory grant of PTD.
C. An injured worker who sustained a traumatic brain injury may continue to receive PTD compensation while in a sheltered workshop as long as activity does not exceed $2,000.00 in any calendar quarter.
- II. Permanent Partial Disability
A. The waiting period for filing an application for the determination of an injured workers’ permanent partial disability has been changed to 26 weeks, from 40 weeks.
B. The facial disfigurement award has been altered to permit payment for serious facial disfigurement not to exceed $10,000.00 instead of the previous $5,000.00.
- III. Wage Loss Compensation
A. Working wage loss remains payable for a maximum of 200 weeks, however, the new law provides that the number of weeks of working wage loss compensation will be reduced by the corresponding number of weeks in which the employee receives payments for living maintenance wage loss.
B. The new law provides that the number of weeks of wage loss compensation payable to an employee shall not exceed 226 in the aggregate for both non-working and working wage loss.
- IV. Injury Definition
A. The new law legislatively overrules the Supreme Court decision in Bailey providing that the definition of injury does not include a psychiatric condition except where the psychiatric condition has arisen from an injury or occupational disease sustained by the injured worker.
B. The new law also legislatively nullifies the Supreme Court’s holding in Shell by providing that “a condition that pre-existed an injury in not an injury unless the pre-existing condition is substantially aggravated by the injury.” There must be objective diagnostic findings to support such an aggravation. Additionally, no compensation and/or benefits are payable once the pre-existing condition returns to a level that would have existed without the injury.
- V. Continuing Jurisdiction
A. The law changes the existing provision in 4123.52 that provides for 6 years of continuing jurisdiction in medical-only cases and 10 years in a lost time case to 5 years in both medical-only and lost time cases.
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