Effective July 1, Georgia House Bill 1409 provides an increase in payouts for workers’ compensation claims in the State. Notably, maximum temporary total disability, temporary partial disability and permanent partial disability rates will provide increased payouts for a relatively small subset of workers’ comp claimants – those earning a minimum of $1,087.50 per week – but otherwise will not have an impact on others’ claims. And while employers and carriers handling the claims may see a slight increase in costs, the change in law will likely not have a major impact on most cases.
Similarly, an upward adjustment to the impairment ratings following changes to Georgia’s workers compensation law is not likely to result in significantly increased benefits payouts to injured workers. Georgia still maintains one of the lowest rates in the country for workers’ compensation, and these recent changes in the law are not likely to encourage more injured workers to pursue claims under the new law.