Reopening an L&I claim in Washington State
Reopening an L&I claim
You may have heard that L&I claims can be reopened after they close. This is true, but there are a few important things to remember regarding claim reopening. First, a claim can be reopened any time following claim closure for additional medical treatment. However, for an injured worker to receive additional monetary benefits such as time-loss compensation, loss of earning power benefits, increased permanent partial disability or permanent and total disability, the claim must be reopened within 7 years of the original claim closure. After 7 years, only medical treatment will be provided if the claim is reopened. The only exception is when the Director of L&I exercises discretion to grant additional benefits.
Second, the reopening of a claim is not guaranteed. If an injured worker or provider believes that a claim should be reopened for whatever reason, a reopening application must be filed documenting the basis for reopening. L&I will carefully evaluate the evidence to determine whether reopening is appropriate. If L&I feels that it is not appropriate, reopening of the claim will be denied. Like any decision, the decision to deny reopening can be protested or appealed for physical conditions.
Conditions to reopen a workers’ compensation claim
For the reopening of a claim to be granted there must be an objective worsening of a claim related condition between the time the claim last closed and the time the application to reopen is filed. In workers’ compensation, we refer to these dates as the terminal dates. The first terminal date is the date of the most recent claim closure. The second terminal date is the date the application to reopen is filed. Findings of disability that can be seen, felt, or measured by an examining physician are called objective findings.
Therefore, whether there has been an objective worsening of claim related conditions between the relevant terminal dates often involves a comparison of the objective medical findings at or around each of the two dates. However, if L&I denies an application to reopen, a medical opinion regarding the objective worsening will be required to prove that the decision to deny reopening was incorrect.
Conclusions and recommendations
If you want to reopen your L&I claim, you should have your current findings and compare them to the objective findings from the time of most recent claim closure. It is also important that your medical provider clearly explains in what ways there has been an objective worsening. Non-physical conditions such as mental health conditions do not require objective worsening for reopening to be granted. These kinds of conditions inherently cannot be seen, felt or measured. However, for reopening to be granted, a medical opinion concerning worsening of the non-physical condition between terminal dates will still be necessary.
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Ms. Tara Reck is the managing attorney at Reck Law — Workers’ Compensation Attorneys in Washington State. If you would like more information, please contact Ms. Reck through the following:
Seattle — Bellevute — Mercer Island office: (206) 395–6141
Port Orchard office: (360)-876–4123
Email: office@recklaw.com
Her Workers’ Compensation blog at https://tarareck.com/contact/
or her company website at https://recklaw.com/contact/.
