Psych Benefits Expire 6 Months to the Day of Physical MMI, Court Clarifies

When Florida claimants develop issues such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder in conjunction with on-the-job injuries, they can collect benefits for those issues for only six months after their physical condition stabilizes, the 1st District Court of Appeal clarified on Tuesday. The moment a worker reaches maximum medical improvement for a physical injury, it "starts a clock" on remaining psychiatric benefits "that stops six months to the day after the date of physical MMI," the court wrote in Utopia Home Care v. Alvarez. The 1st DCA first ...