PPD (Permanent Partial Disability)

Permanent partial disability compensates the permanent loss itself, not wage loss. Once you reach maximum medical improvement, a doctor rates your permanent functional impairment as a percentage of the whole body using the schedules in Minnesota Rules chapter 5223, and Minn. Stat. § 176.101, subd. 2a converts that percentage into dollars using the amount assigned to your rating tier for your date of injury.

The rating is everything. Ratings are assigned category-by-category (a lumbar fusion, a shoulder with limited motion, a finger amputation each have specific rule citations), multiple ratings combine under the A + B(1 − A) formula rather than simple addition, and insurers’ doctors frequently rate lower than treating doctors.

PPD is payable even if you never missed a paycheck, and it survives many settlements as a separately valued component. If any rating in your file seems low, or a body part was never rated at all, the schedule is public and checkable.