Illinois: Claimant Need Not Submit AMA Rating Report in Order to Qualify for PD

The Appellate Court of Illinois, Workers’ Compensation Commission Division, held that section 8.1b of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act [820 Ill. Comp. Stat. 305/8.1b (2012)], does not require an injured worker to submit an “AMA rating report” for the purpose of determining permanent disability. The court observed that section 8.1b is addressed only to a physician preparing a PPD impairment report. The provision sets forth what a physician should include in his or her report and establishes that the report must be in writing. It does not contain any language that obligates either a claimant or an employer to submit a PPD impairment report. Moreover, indicated the appellate court, the provision contains no language limiting the Commission’s ability to award PPD benefits when no report is submitted.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance.

See Corn Belt Energy Corp. v. Illinois Workers’ Comp. Comm’n, 2016 IL App (3d) 150311WC, 2016 Ill. App. LEXIS 413 (June 28, 2016).

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 80.07.

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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