A Guide to Workers’ Comp Permanency Hearings in Colorado – When you suffer a work injury in Colorado and complete all your medical treatment, your doctors will issue medical opinions that determine your permanent disability benefits. These opinions include your Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) date and your impairment rating, both of which directly affect the amount of compensation you receive.
But what if the doctors get it wrong? What if your impairment rating is too low? Or what if the wrong formula is being used?
In those cases, you may need to go to a Workers’ Compensation permanency hearing to fight for the benefits you deserve. This guide breaks down the types of hearings, how to dispute your permanent impairment, and what evidence you need to win.
What Is a Permanency Hearing in Colorado Workers’ Compensation?
A permanency hearing determines the type and amount of permanent disability benefits an injured worker receives. These cases generally fall into two categories:
1. Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)
You are seeking more impairment rating points or want to challenge the formula used to calculate your payout.
2. Permanent Total Disability (PTD)
You are arguing that your work injury prevents you from earning any wages in any job with any employer.
Understanding which type applies can significantly impact your case strategy, evidence, and outcome.
Types of Permanency Hearings
1. Fighting the Impairment Rating (PPD Points)
You may disagree with your impairment rating because you believe it should be higher. There are two main types of disputes:
A) Whole-Person Impairment (Torso, Spine, Head Injuries)
These injuries require a Division Independent Medical Exam (DIME) before you can take your case to court.
Examples include:
- Neck injuries
- Low back injuries
- Mid-back injuries
- Head injuries
A DIME doctor gives a second opinion. If you go to a hearing afterward, it means:
- The DIME went against you, and you want to challenge it, or
- The DIME went in your favor, and the insurance company wants to challenge it.
Colorado law makes overturning a DIME extremely difficult:
Judges must uphold the DIME unless the opposing party proves, with clear and convincing evidence, that the doctor is wrong.
Between 2020–2024, 130 cases disputed a DIME rating, and judges upheld the DIME 80% of the time.
B) Scheduled Injuries (Arms, Hands, Fingers, Legs, Feet)
These body parts are listed on a schedule, and their impairment is expressed directly in percentages.
Good news:
No DIME is required. You can go straight to a hearing with your own doctor’s opinion. The judge decides which medical opinion is more credible.
2. Fighting the Formula Used to Calculate PPD Benefits
Sometimes the issue is not the number of impairment points, it’s the formula used to calculate their value.
Two common disputes include:
A. Scheduled vs. Whole-Person Formula
Some injuries (most commonly shoulders) are often incorrectly evaluated under the scheduled formula, which pays significantly less.
If your injury should be valued as a whole-person impairment, you can challenge the formula in a hearing.
B. Special Rules for TBIs, Mental Health Injuries & Psychological Conditions
Traumatic brain injuries, PTSD, depression, and similar conditions have different formulas depending on the cause:
- Psychological injury alone
- Psychological injury from a physical injury
- Mental injury caused by a crime of violence
- Brain injury with anatomical change
The correct formula can dramatically affect the final award.
What Evidence Do You Need to Prove Your Case?
1. To Increase Your Impairment Rating
You need medical testimony from a doctor who supports a higher rating.
For whole-person disputes:
- You must complete the DIME first.
- A permanency hearing occurs when someone is unhappy with the DIME result.
The judge will review:
- Diagnoses
- When symptoms were reported
- Consistency in medical records
- Range of motion tests
- Documentation of pain and limitations
The key question:
Which doctor is more credible based on the medical evidence?
2. To Change the Formula
Evidence may include:
- Medical records documenting symptoms and limitations
- Reports showing where pain is located
- Proof the injury affects daily living activities
- Testimony from your treating doctor or an expert physician
- Your testimony about functional limitations
A strong case shows that the nature of the injury fits the higher-value formula.
Permanent Total Disability (PTD): The Toughest Fight
PTD benefits are available only if you prove that your work injury makes you unable to earn wages in any job, with any employer, anywhere.
To qualify for PTD, you must show:
1. Your medical restrictions
Permanent limitations that make work impossible.
2. You tried to find work but couldn’t
You must show good-faith job search efforts in the competitive labor market.
3. A vocational expert supports your case
A vocational expert must testify that:
- No employer will hire you,
- You cannot perform any job safely,
- You cannot earn any wage.
The insurance company will bring their experts to argue the opposite. PTD cases are highly contested and often settle before hearing — but strong legal representation is essential.
We’re Here to Help
Permanency disputes are among the most complex and high-stakes cases in Colorado Workers’ Compensation. Whether you’re fighting impairment points, arguing the formula, or pursuing permanent total disability, you don’t have to face it alone. If you or a loved one has been injured on the job in Colorado, we can help.
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