Under the 2004 rules, when an employee is P&S for bilateral loss of vision, how is the disability rating determined?

• A. The sum of both impairments
• B. The average of both impairments
• C. The minimum rating
• D. The greater rating

Answer: (D)

When vision is impaired in both eyes, the rule is to use the higher impairment rating of the two eyes to determine the overall disability. This reflects that the overall functional loss from bilateral vision problems is driven by the worse eye, and adding the other eye’s impairment would overstate the disability.

If one eye is rated at 30% and the other at 70%, the disability rating used is 70%. The other options don’t fit because summing would overcount the same functional limitation, averaging would understate the worse eye’s impact, and using the minimum would ignore the significant loss in the other eye.