The injured worker is a maximum earner for an injury July 21, 2006. You are making a TD payment in August 2008. What is the correct TD rate?

The injured worker is a maximum earner for an injury July 21, 2006. You are making a TD payment in August 2008. What is the correct TD rate?

• A. Maximum TD rate for an injury in 2006
• B. $840.00
• C. Maximum TD for an injury in 2008
• D. TD computed in accordance with the TD rate in effect on the date of the payment

Answer: (D)

Temporary disability benefits are calculated using the TD rate in effect for the date of each payment. The rate isn’t fixed to the injury date or to a specific year’s maximum; it updates over time. Since the payment is in August 2008, you apply the TD rate in effect in 2008 for that payment. Being a maximum earner at the time of the injury doesn’t lock in a single rate for all future TD payments—the rate can change, and each payment uses the current rate. That’s why the correct approach is to compute TD based on the rate in effect on the date of the payment.

Temporary disability benefits are calculated using the TD rate in effect for the date of each payment. The rate isn’t fixed to the injury date or to a specific year’s maximum; it updates over time. Since the payment is in August 2008, you apply the TD rate in effect in 2008 for that payment. Being a maximum earner at the time of the injury doesn’t lock in a single rate for all future TD payments—the rate can change, and each payment uses the current rate.

That’s why the correct approach is to compute TD based on the rate in effect on the date of the payment.