A 47-year-old actor has a chemical burn to an upper extremity producing a cosmetic disfigurement resulting in a 5% WPI. What is the rating?

A 47-year-old actor has a chemical burn to an upper extremity producing a cosmetic disfigurement resulting in a 5% WPI. What is the rating?

• A. 0%
• B. 5%
• C. 11%
• D. 13%

Answer: (D)

When multiple impairment components affect the whole person, you don’t simply add the percentages. You combine them using the AMA Guides Combined Values Chart, which accounts for overlap between impairments. Here, the upper-extremity impairment is 5% and the cosmetic disfigurement adds 8%. Using the combination method: 5% + 8% × (1 − 0.05) = 5% + 7.6% = 12.6%. Rounding gives 13% WPI. This shows why cosmetic disfigurement can push the total impairment higher than a straightforward addition, because the combined values approach reflects overlap rather than a flat sum.

When multiple impairment components affect the whole person, you don’t simply add the percentages. You combine them using the AMA Guides Combined Values Chart, which accounts for overlap between impairments. Here, the upper-extremity impairment is 5% and the cosmetic disfigurement adds 8%. Using the combination method: 5% + 8% × (1 − 0.05) = 5% + 7.6% = 12.6%. Rounding gives 13% WPI. This shows why cosmetic disfigurement can push the total impairment higher than a straightforward addition, because the combined values approach reflects overlap rather than a flat sum.