The three most common petitions filed by the insurance carrier after you have begun receiving workers’ compensation benefits are a Petition to Terminate, Petition to Suspend and Petition to Modify. 

An employer or insurance carrier seeking to terminate your benefits must prove that you are fully recovered from your work injury. The burden of proof is on the employer. This petition is filed after a physician provides an opinion that you have fully recovered. This petition seeks to stop both your wages and medical benefits.

In order to succeed with this petition, medical testimony must be presented. The medical testimony is usually in the form of a deposition although in certain circumstances a report may be used. Your physician will need to testify that you are not fully recovered in order to defend this type of petition.  

The goal of this type of petition is to suspend or stop your wage benefits. Your medical benefits are not affected and in the event that your benefits are suspended, you can continue to receive medical treatment. There are usually two reasons for an employer’s request to suspend benefits.

A Petition to Modify Benefits is a request by your employer to reduce your wage benefits. Similar to a Suspension Petition, your medical benefits are not affected, only your wage benefits.

However, unlike a Suspension Petition, a Modification Petition seeks to reduce your wages, not stop your wages. This is based on a return to work while you continue to suffer from your injury but you earn less than your average weekly wage. In this circumstance, you would be entitled to partial disability benefits which are 66 2/3 of the difference between your actual reduced earnings and your average weekly wage. Partial benefits are limited to 500 weeks.

The Modification Petition can be based on an actual return to work or as a result of a vocational evaluation which concludes that you are capable of returning to work earning less than your average weekly wage.