The claimant cannot seek a reinstatement of benefits where the injury is acknowledged by a medical only NCP because the Medical Only NCP does not recognize disability.

According to the Commonwealth Court, the effect of issuing a Medical Only NCP is distinct from the effect of a ruling that a claimant has suffered a loss of earning power and that grants a claim petition, but also immediately suspends benefits. Because no disability had ever been recognized by the employer or established by a Workers’ Compensation Judge for the claimant’s 2006 injury, disability had not been suspended when the 2006 Medical Only NCP was issued. Therefore, the claimant could not seek to have disability benefits reinstated and the 500-week period of reinstatement of benefits did not govern the case. The court went on to hold that, since no disability compensation had been paid for the 2006 injury, the claimant was required to establish an entitlement within three years of the date of the injury. Thus, the petition the claimant filed in 2011 was untimely under §413 (a) of the Act.

_{Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2016}

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