A Pennsylvania House Bill seeking to expand coverage for disfigurement has advanced to the Senate. House Bill 183 seeks to expand the benefits for permanent scarring/disfigurement by including coverage to scars below the neck and increasing benefit maximums from 275 to 400 weeks. The proposed amendment to the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act would remove the language that disfigurement must be of “the head, neck or face” and replace it with “the body.” This would mean that any surgical scar, among other things, could lead to a specific loss disfigurement award. Another change to this provision of the Act if the amendment is passed, is that disfigurement benefits could be paid simultaneously with total or partial disability, as there is language that a Claimant is NOT precluded from collecting total or partial disability and disfigurement benefits simultaneously. Finally, the Bill notes the expanded benefits apply to “disfigurement reached” after the effective date of the amendment, regardless of then the original injury occurred. This Bill received final passage in the House on April 9, 2025 and has been referred to the Senate Labor and Industry Committee. We will continue to monitor developments on this proposed legislation.
Be sure to let your local state Senator know your feelings about an increase in benefits from 275 weeks to 400 weeks for specific loss benefits, as well as your position of the expansion to cover all scarring and disfigurement, regardless of bodily location!
