If you sustain a compensable Iowa Workers’ Compensation injury to your shoulder you are entitled to Iowa work comp benefits. Those benefits include medical benefits (the Iowa employer and insurance carrier pays your medical expenses for the injury), healing period benefits, and permanency benefits. Healing period benefits are benefits paid to you on a weekly basis for each week you are off of work as a result of the Iowa work injury. Those benefits continue until you return to work, are released to similar employment, or placed at maximum medical improvement. Permanency benefits are paid at the end of the healing period benefits. Because the injury is to your shoulder it is considered an injury to your body as a whole. Body as a whole injuries are compensated based on how the injury affects your ability to earn income. This is called “industrial disability benefits." The way an injury affects your ability to earn a living are determined based on your age, education, past work history, restrictions, impairment, and a number of other factors. These benefits are significantly higher than the benefits for scheduled member injury to your arm, hand, leg, or foot. Shoulder injuries can result in significant affects on a person’s ability to work certain jobs and can have a drastic affect on one's ability to work and earn a living.
