Benefits: Medical, Indemnity, and Disability
Alaska benefits fall into three buckets: medical, indemnity (wage replacement), and disability/vocational benefits. The adjuster must know each benefit's trigger, rate, and duration.
Medical benefits are generally provided without dollar or time limits for treatment that is reasonable, necessary, and causally related to the work injury. The employer may direct care within the statutory framework, and disputes over treatment go through the Division/Board process. Indemnity benefits include temporary total disability (TTD) and temporary partial disability (TPD), paid at a statutory percentage of the worker's average weekly wage, subject to a maximum rate that changes annually. Permanent partial impairment (PPI) and permanent total disability (PTD) are separate. Death benefits and burial expenses apply to fatal claims.
Traps: applying the current year's maximum rate to an older injury; confusing TTD (no work available) with TPD (light-duty earnings offset); forgetting that medical benefits are not capped like indemnity; and assuming benefits stop automatically when the worker is released to light duty. Another trap is miscalculating the average weekly wage by excluding bonuses or overtime incorrectly.
Worked example: Worker earns $1,200/week, is off work entirely for six weeks. TTD = statutory percentage × AWW, capped at the maximum rate for the injury year. If the computed rate exceeds the cap, pay the cap. Document the AWW calculation and the cap year.
Rule of thumb: always identify the injury date first - it fixes the applicable maximum rate, the benefit percentage, and the statutory version in effect.