656.273
Aggravation for worsened conditions; procedure; limitations; additional
compensation. (1)
After the last award or arrangement of compensation, an injured worker is
entitled to additional compensation for worsened conditions resulting from the
original injury. A worsened condition resulting from the original injury is
established by medical evidence of an actual worsening of the compensable
condition supported by objective findings. However, if the major contributing
cause of the worsened condition is an injury not occurring within the course
and scope of employment, the worsening is not compensable. A worsened condition
is not established by either or both of the following:
(a) The worker’s
absence from work for any given amount of time as a result of the worker’s
condition from the original injury; or
(b) Inpatient
treatment of the worker at a hospital for the worker’s condition from the
original injury.
(2) To obtain
additional medical services or disability compensation, the injured worker must
file a claim for aggravation with the insurer or self-insured employer. In the
event the insurer or self-insured employer cannot be located, is unknown, or
has ceased to exist, the claim shall be filed with the Director of the
Department of Consumer and Business Services.
(3) A claim for
aggravation must be in writing in a form and format prescribed by the director
and signed by the worker or the worker’s representative and the worker’s
attending physician. When an insurer or self-insured employer receives a
completed aggravation form, the insurer or self-insured employer shall process
the claim.
(4) The claim for
aggravation must be filed within five years:
(a) After the
first notice of closure made under ORS 656.268 for a disabling claim; or
(b) After the
date of injury, provided the claim has been classified as nondisabling for at
least one year after the date of acceptance.
(5) The director
may order the claimant, the insurer or self-insured employer to pay for such
medical opinion.
(6) A claim
submitted in accordance with this section shall be processed by the insurer or
self-insured employer in accordance with the provisions of ORS 656.262. The
first installment of compensation due under ORS 656.262 shall be paid no later
than the 14th day after the subject employer or paying agent of the subject
employer receives a written report that verifies the worker’s inability to work
resulting from a compensable worsening under subsection (1) of this section and
that establishes by medical evidence supported by objective findings that the
claimant has suffered a worsened condition attributable to the compensable injury.
(7) A request for
hearing on any issue involving a claim for aggravation must be made to the
Workers’ Compensation Board in accordance with ORS 656.283.
(8) If the worker
submits a claim for aggravation of an injury or disease for which permanent
disability has been previously awarded, the worker must establish that the
worsening is more than waxing and waning of symptoms of the condition
contemplated by the previous permanent disability award. [1973 c.620 §5
(enacted in lieu of 656.271); 1975 c.497 §1; 1977 c.804 §7; 1979 c.839 §6; 1981
c.854 §20; 1987 c.884 §23; 1989 c.171 §76; 1990 c.2 §18; 1995 c.332 §31; 1999
c.313 §2; 2001 c.350 §1; 2005 c.50 §1]
656.274 [Repealed by 1965 c.285 §95]
656.275 [1963 c.20 §2; repealed by 1965
c.285 §95]
656.276 [Repealed by 1965 c.285 §95]
Notes of Decisions
SAIF Corp. v. Walker (2000)
or · cites it 77×
“Claimant filed an aggravation claim under ORS 656.273 (1993). SAIF denied the claim in April 1993, concluding that claimant’s underlying condition had not worsened since his earlier award.”
SAIF Corp. v. Walker (1996)
orctapp · cites it 81×
“ORS 656.273. "* * * * * "The medical and lay evidence establishes that claimant has increased symptoms that exceed the symptoms he experienced at the time of claim closure.”
Jocelyn v. Wampler Werth Farms (1994)
orctapp · cites it 90×
“Claimant filed an aggravation claim under ORS 656.273 for the worsening of his accepted condition, which employer denied.”
Brown v. SAIF Corp. (2017)
or · cites it 4×
“ORS 656.273. B. Analysis of parties’contentions With the benefit of that context, we turn to the parties’ arguments.”
Gwynn v. State Accident Insurance Fund Corp. (1987)
or · cites it 10×
“Claimant, who had received a workers’ compensation award for unscheduled permanent partial disability, filed a claim under ORS 656.273 with respondent State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF).”
Nacoste v. Halton Co. (2015)
orctapp · cites it 16×
“After the claim for the medial meniscus tear was closed, claimant developed a separate condition in the same knee, chon-dromalacia, and he filed an aggravation claim under ORS 656.273. 1 The insurer denied the aggravation claim, and claimant requested a hearing.”
Smith v. State Accident Insurance Fund Corp. (1986)
or · cites it 9×
“On the second issue, the Court of Appeals concluded that for claimant to establish a worsening of his condition he must demonstrate that he was more disabled and that more disabled meant less able to work, stating: “In order to establish an aggravation claim, claimant must show…”
Cutright v. Weyerhaeuser Co. (1985)
or · cites it 6×
“ORS 656.273(1). [3] In each case the employer accepted responsibility for payment of necessary medical services but denied responsibility for the payment of compensation for TTD because the claimant was no longer in the labor market by the time the claimant applied for…”
Petock v. Asante (2011)
or · cites it 9×
“ORS 656.273. The primary question in this case is whether a workplace injury that plaintiff characterized, in filing a workers’ compensation claim, as an aggravation or worsening of an earlier compensable injury can give rise to a new three-year period in which she can demand…”
Johansen v. SAIF Corp. (1999)
orctapp · cites it 10×
““(2) A claim that a nondisabling injury originally was or has become disabling, if made more than one year after the date of injury, shall be made pursuant to ORS 656.273 as a claim for aggravation. “(3) A claim for a nondisabling injury shall not be reported to the director by…”
Gwynn v. State Accident Insurance Fund Corp. (1988)
orctapp · cites it 10×
“The worker is entitled to additional benefits for permanent *587 disability only if he becomes medically stationary at a level of disability greater than the level of permanent disability for which he has been compensated.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(1) — 104 cases
SAIF Corp. v. Walker (2000)
or
“Claimant filed an aggravation claim under ORS 656.273 (1993). SAIF denied the claim in April 1993, concluding that claimant’s underlying condition had not worsened since his earlier award.”
SAIF Corp. v. Walker (1996)
orctapp
“ORS 656.273. "* * * * * "The medical and lay evidence establishes that claimant has increased symptoms that exceed the symptoms he experienced at the time of claim closure.”
Jocelyn v. Wampler Werth Farms (1994)
orctapp
“Claimant filed an aggravation claim under ORS 656.273 for the worsening of his accepted condition, which employer denied.”
Cutright v. Weyerhaeuser Co. (1985)
or
“ORS 656.273(1). [3] In each case the employer accepted responsibility for payment of necessary medical services but denied responsibility for the payment of compensation for TTD because the claimant was no longer in the labor market by the time the claimant applied for…”
Brown v. SAIF Corp. (2017)
or
“ORS 656.273. B. Analysis of parties’contentions With the benefit of that context, we turn to the parties’ arguments.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(1)(a) — 1 case
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(2) — 9 cases
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(3) — 41 cases
SAIF Corp. v. Walker (2000)
or
“Claimant filed an aggravation claim under ORS 656.273 (1993). SAIF denied the claim in April 1993, concluding that claimant’s underlying condition had not worsened since his earlier award.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(4) — 27 cases
Smith v. State Accident Insurance Fund Corp. (1986)
or
“On the second issue, the Court of Appeals concluded that for claimant to establish a worsening of his condition he must demonstrate that he was more disabled and that more disabled meant less able to work, stating: “In order to establish an aggravation claim, claimant must show…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(4)(a) — 16 cases
Johansen v. SAIF Corp. (1999)
orctapp
““(2) A claim that a nondisabling injury originally was or has become disabling, if made more than one year after the date of injury, shall be made pursuant to ORS 656.273 as a claim for aggravation. “(3) A claim for a nondisabling injury shall not be reported to the director by…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(4)(b) — 11 cases
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(4)(c) — 1 case
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(5) — 1 case
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(6) — 22 cases
Johansen v. SAIF Corp. (1999)
orctapp
““(2) A claim that a nondisabling injury originally was or has become disabling, if made more than one year after the date of injury, shall be made pursuant to ORS 656.273 as a claim for aggravation. “(3) A claim for a nondisabling injury shall not be reported to the director by…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(7) — 1 case
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(8) — 7 cases
SAIF Corp. v. Walker (2000)
or
“Claimant filed an aggravation claim under ORS 656.273 (1993). SAIF denied the claim in April 1993, concluding that claimant’s underlying condition had not worsened since his earlier award.”
SAIF Corp. v. Walker (1996)
orctapp
“ORS 656.273. "* * * * * "The medical and lay evidence establishes that claimant has increased symptoms that exceed the symptoms he experienced at the time of claim closure.”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 656.273(b) — 1 case
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