Permanent Disability & Settlements
A number decides what your injury was worth.
At the end of an accepted claim a doctor assigns an impairment rating — a percentage. That percentage, more than anything else in the file, determines what you are paid. It is also the single most contested number in Oklahoma workers’ compensation.
Once treatment has taken you as far as it reasonably can — the point usually called maximum medical improvement — a physician assesses what permanent damage is left and expresses it as a percentage of impairment. That percentage is then converted into compensation according to a statutory formula.
Two things follow from that, and both matter more than people expect.
- The rating is an opinion. Two competent physicians examining the same shoulder can reach materially different numbers. It is not a measurement like blood pressure.
- Small differences are not small. Because the percentage is multiplied through a formula, a handful of points can change the outcome substantially.
Which is why the rating is where these cases are quietly won and lost — long after the dramatic part is over and everyone has stopped paying attention.
The categories
Four kinds of disability, in plain terms
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TTD
Temporary total disability
You cannot work at all, for now, while you recover. Benefits replace a portion of your average weekly wage during that period. Confirm current rate & cap
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TPD
Temporary partial disability
You are back, but on restrictions and earning less than before. Benefits address part of that gap while the restrictions last.
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PPD
Permanent partial disability
The most common category. You have recovered as far as you are going to, and some permanent impairment remains. This is where the impairment rating does its work.
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PTD
Permanent total disability
The injury prevents a return to any reasonable employment. These claims are the most heavily contested, because they are the most expensive for the carrier.
When the rating is wrong
A rating you disagree with is not the end of the discussion. Where it is disputed, an injured worker can seek an independent medical examination and put competing medical evidence in front of the Commission.
Ratings tend to come in low for identifiable, checkable reasons:
- The examining physician had an incomplete record — prior imaging, the operative report, or the therapy notes were never sent over.
- The examination was brief and did not test the range of motion or function that the impairment guides actually require.
- Part of the injury was left out. A back injury is rated; the resulting nerve symptoms in the leg are not.
- The rating was assigned before you had genuinely reached maximum medical improvement.
- Psychological consequences of a serious injury were never assessed at all.
None of that is exotic. It is what happens when a busy physician is asked to produce a number from a partial file.
Before you sign anything
A settlement closes the claim. Depending on how it is structured that can include closing your right to future medical treatment for the injury. If the offer arrived with a deadline and a friendly phone call, that is a reason to slow down, not speed up.
Medicare, liens and what actually reaches you
The headline settlement figure is not the figure you receive. Medical liens, unpaid benefits and Medicare's interests all come out of it. Anyone presenting a settlement to you should be able to show the arithmetic in writing before you agree — we always do.
A note on numbers
Nobody can tell you what your case is worth over the phone in ninety seconds.
Any firm that gives you a figure before reading your medical records is guessing, and the guess is a marketing device.
What genuinely determines the number is your impairment rating, your average weekly wage, which body part is involved, whether you can return to your old job, and the statutory limits that apply to your injury date. We will walk you through each of those with your file in front of us.
Common questions
Disability ratings and settlements, answered.
Clear answers are part of the work. If your question is not here, ask it directly—the consultation is free.
A permanent partial disability rating is a percentage assigned by a physician that describes the lasting impairment left by a work injury after maximum medical improvement. In Oklahoma that percentage drives the compensation payable for the permanent effects of the injury.
Yes. A rating is a medical opinion, not a fixed fact. Where a rating is disputed, an injured worker may seek an independent medical examination and present competing medical evidence.
Maximum medical improvement generally means the treating doctor believes the condition is as improved as it is expected to become with additional treatment. It often triggers an impairment evaluation, but it does not mean the injury has disappeared.
Not before you understand the medical evidence, the impairment rating, what future rights may be closed and the net amount you would receive. A settlement is final in important ways, so the written terms should be reviewed carefully.
No cost to find out
Tell us what happened. We'll tell you honestly whether you have a claim.
Including when the answer is no. The consultation is free, it obligates you to nothing, and you can have it in English or Spanish.