However, the ratings (and therefore the benefits) were not distributed equitably for impairments to different parts of the body. 4.) The six month period need not be continuous employment. Appeals Bd., 142 Cal.App.4th 1099, 48 Cal.Rptr.3d 618, 630 (2006) (“section 4664(b) creates a conclusive presumption of the continued existence of a prior permanent disability when the claimant received an award of permanent disability benefits based on that disability, thereby precluding the claimant from proving medical rehabilitation from the prior disability”). However, certain impairments are automatically rated as total disabilities: No other impairments are conclusively presumed to cause a total disability. However, the employer may not submit the form unless the employee has not submitted the form within 10 days after the employer has furnished the form to the employee and requested the employee to submit the form. Impairment ratings drive an estimated $20 billion … v. Workers’ Comp. . Code Reg., tit. Appeals. Our consultations are free and confidential. Such an assessment may require physicians to draw analogies to impairments that are described in the AMA Guides when the Guides do not adequately address a patient’s particular impairment.⁠42. (a) [“In determining the percentages of permanent disability, account shall be taken of the nature of the physical injury or disfigurement, the occupation of the injured employee, and his or her age at the time of the injury, consideration being given to an employee’s diminished future earning capacity.”].↥, See Brodie v. Workers’ Comp. Those circumstances include: Under those circumstances, employees have an opportunity to argue for higher benefits than their disability rating would otherwise permit. 2d 72, 854 P.2d 721 (1993) (describing the payment of compensation for industrial injuries regardless of fault as one of the objectives of California’s workers’ compensation scheme).↥, Gamble v. Workers’ Comp. 2d 808, 828 P.2d 1195 (1992), (“the workers’ compensation system is designed to compensate only for such disability or need for treatment as is occupationally related”).↥, See Labor Code, § 3208.1 (“An injury may be either: (a) ‘specific,’ occurring as the result of one incident or exposure which causes disability or need for medical treatment; or (b) ‘cumulative,’ occurring as repetitive mentally or physically traumatic activities extending over a period of time, the combined effect of which causes any disability or need for medical treatment.”).↥, “The ‘primary treating physician’ is the physician who is primarily responsible for managing the care of an employee, and who has examined the employee at least once for the purpose of rendering or prescribing treatment and has monitored the effect of the treatment thereafter.” Cal. By using the word ‘incorporation,’ the Legislature recognized that not every injury can be accurately described by the classifications designated for the particular body part involved.”).↥, See City of Sacramento v. Workers’ Comp. Appeals Bd., 113 Cal. The schedules were based on an error of fact; The injury impairs the employee’s rehabilitation, and for that reason, the employee’s diminished future earning capacity is greater than the employee’s scheduled rating reflects; or, The nature or severity of the employee’s injury is not captured within the sampling of disabled workers that was used to compute the adjustment factor.⁠. 8, § 10166(c) (“The Disability Evaluation Unit may also prepare consultative rating determinations upon receipt of reasonable requests from employers, injured workers or their respective representatives.