Permanent Partial Impairment and Return to Work
When a worker reaches maximum medical improvement (MMI), temporary benefits generally end and the focus shifts to permanent partial impairment (PPI) and return to work. Alaska uses an impairment rating based on the AMA Guides (as adopted by regulation) to quantify permanent impairment, and PPI benefits are paid according to a statutory schedule tied to the rating and the worker's wage rate.
Key concepts: MMI versus PPI (MMI is a medical plateau; PPI is the permanent rating); the rating physician's role; apportionment for pre-existing impairment; and reemployment/vocational benefits when the worker cannot return to the prior job. Alaska also has provisions for reemployment benefits (retraining) for eligible workers, with eligibility determined by statute and regulation.
Traps: treating MMI as the end of all benefits (medical benefits may continue); confusing PPI with PTD (PTD requires a total loss of earning capacity); assuming any impairment rating automatically qualifies for reemployment benefits; and using the wrong edition of the AMA Guides. Another trap is ignoring the worker's actual wage loss when evaluating PTD.
Worked example: A worker reaches MMI with a 10% whole-person impairment. The adjuster computes PPI using the statutory formula and the worker's wage rate, then separately evaluates whether the worker can return to work. If not, evaluate reemployment benefit eligibility - PPI payment does not by itself resolve the return-to-work question.
Rule of thumb: MMI closes the temporary chapter, not the claim - always ask what permanent and vocational issues remain open.