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Home> Workers' Comp> What Are The Benefits of Workers' Compensation In Texas? > Income benefits > Impairment Income Benefits
What Are Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs) For Workers' Compensation Claims in Texas?
You may be entitled to Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs)
if you have a permanent impairment from a work-related
injury or illness. Generally, Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI)
is reached when you are as well as you are going to be from the work-related injury
or illness.
This does not mean that you will not need to follow up care with your health care
provider, be completely pain free, or that you are released to return to work. When
the health care provider determines you have reached MMI, the health
care provider will determine if there is any permanent
physical damage.
The health care provider will assign an impairment rating (IR)
using the 4th Edition of the American Medical Associations (AMA) Guides to the
Evaluation of
Permanent Impairment. The impairment rating describes
the degree of permanent damage to your body as a whole.
If you, the injured worker, have not previously reached maximum medical improvement,
the workers' compensation law establishes MMI at 104 weeks. A doctor that is certified
by the Division to do IR examinations must make an
assessment of permanent impairment on whether the work-
related injury or illness has been resolved or not.
If an IR has not been assigned before the 104-week date when your temporary income benefits (TIBs) end, you may not receive IIBs (Impaired Income Benefits) until a doctor assigns an IR. TIBs can no longer be paid after 104 weeks (or maximum medical improvement). Your impairment rating determines whether you are eligible for IIBs. Three (3) weeks of IIBs are paid for each percentage of impairment.
When Impairment Income Benefits Begin and End
You become eligible for Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs)
the day after you reach maximum medical improvement
(MMI). IIBs end after you have received a total of three(3) weeks of payments for
each percentage of your impairment rating.
For example, if you have an impairment rating of 6 percent,
you would receive a total of 18 weeks of IIBs.