Section 22-3-3-7 - Temporary disability benefits; installment payments; termination; overpayment(a) Compensation shall be allowed on account of injuries producing only temporary total disability to work or temporary partial disability to work beginning with the eighth day of such disability except for medical benefits provided in section 4 of the chapter. Compensation shall be allowed for the first seven (7) calendar days only if the disability continues for longer than twenty-one (21) days.(b) The first weekly installment of compensation for temporary disability is due fourteen (14) days after the disability begins. Not later than fourteen (14) days from the date that the first installment of compensation is due, the employer or the employer's insurance carrier shall file a report of payment of compensation with the worker's compensation board electronically and tender to the employee or to the employee's dependents, with all compensation due, a properly prepared compensation agreement in a form prescribed by the board. The presentation to the employee or to the employee's dependents of the check, draft, or electronic payment from the employer or the employer's insurance carrier for the proper amount, drawn upon a bank in which money is on deposit to pay the same on demand, shall be sufficient tender of the compensation.(c) Whenever an employer or the employer's insurance carrier denies or is not able to determine liability to pay compensation or benefits, the employer or the employer's insurance carrier shall notify the worker's compensation board and the employee in writing on a form prescribed by the worker's compensation board not later than thirty (30) days after the employer's knowledge of the claimed injury. If a determination of liability cannot be made within thirty (30) days, the worker's compensation board may approve an additional thirty (30) days upon a written request of the employer or the employer's insurance carrier that sets forth the reasons that the determination could not be made within thirty (30) days and states the facts or circumstances that are necessary to determine liability within the additional thirty (30) days. More than thirty (30) days of additional time may be approved by the worker's compensation board upon the filing of a petition by the employer or the employer's insurance carrier that sets forth: (1) the extraordinary circumstances that have precluded a determination of liability within the initial sixty (60) days;(2) the status of the investigation on the date the petition is filed;(3) the facts or circumstances that are necessary to make a determination; and(4) a timetable for the completion of the remaining investigation. An employer who fails to comply with this section is subject to a civil penalty under IC 22-3-4-15.
(d) Once begun, temporary total disability benefits may not be terminated by the employer unless: (1) the employee has returned to any employment;(2) the employee has died;(3) the employee has refused to undergo a medical examination under section 6 of this chapter or has refused to accept suitable employment under section 11 of this chapter;(4) the employee has received five hundred (500) weeks of temporary total disability benefits or has been paid the maximum compensation allowed under section 22 of this chapter; or(5) the employee is unable or unavailable to work for reasons unrelated to the compensable injury. In each instance, the employer must provide written notice to the injured worker on a form approved by the board. In all other cases the employer must notify the employee in writing of the employer's intent to terminate the payment of temporary total disability benefits and of the availability of employment, if any, on a form approved by the board. In all instances the employer must file an electronic notice of the termination with the board.
(e) If the employee disagrees with the termination or proposed termination, the employee must give written notice of disagreement to the board and the employer within seven (7) days after receipt of the notice of intent to terminate benefits. If the board and employer do not receive a notice of disagreement under this section, the employee's temporary total disability benefits shall be terminated. Upon receipt of the notice of disagreement, the board shall immediately contact the parties, which may be by telephone or other means, and attempt to resolve the disagreement. If the board is unable to resolve the disagreement within ten (10) days of receipt of the notice of disagreement, the board shall immediately arrange for an evaluation of the employee by an independent medical examiner. The independent medical examiner shall be selected by mutual agreement of the parties or, if the parties are unable to agree, appointed by the board under IC 22-3-4-11. If the independent medical examiner determines that the employee is no longer temporarily disabled or is still temporarily disabled but can return to employment that the employer has made available to the employee, or if the employee fails or refuses to appear for examination by the independent medical examiner, temporary total disability benefits may be terminated. If either party disagrees with the opinion of the independent medical examiner, the party shall apply to the board for a hearing under IC 22-3-4-5.(f) An employer is not required to continue the payment of temporary total disability benefits for more than fourteen (14) days after the employer's proposed termination date unless the independent medical examiner determines that the employee is temporarily disabled and unable to return to any employment that the employer has made available to the employee.(g) If it is determined that as a result of this section temporary total disability benefits were overpaid, the overpayment shall be deducted from any benefits due the employee under section 10 of this chapter and, if there are no benefits due the employee or the benefits due the employee do not equal the amount of the overpayment, the employee shall be responsible for paying any overpayment which cannot be deducted from benefits due the employee.Amended by P.L. 139-2020,SEC. 2, eff. 7/1/2020.Amended by P.L. 204-2018,SEC. 3, eff. 7/1/2018.Amended by P.L. 168-2011, SEC. 4, eff. 7/1/2011.(Formerly: Acts 1929, c.172, s.28; Acts 1949, c.243, s.1; Acts1974 , P.L. 108, SEC.8.) As amended by P.L. 170-1991, SEC.5; P.L. 258-1997 (ss), SEC.5.