Where employment aggravates, accelerates, or combines with a preexisting condition to produce disability, the resulting harm is generally compensable. States differ on whether the aggravation must be permanent and on whether a temporary flare-up qualifies.
Apportionment rules determine whether the employer bears the entire disability or only the work-related portion.
Alternative Names:
Exacerbation, Aggravation Claim
Why it Matters?
Apportionment is the practical battleground and the difference between systems is stark. In full-responsibility states an employer takes the worker as found and pays for the entire resulting disability, while apportionment states divide liability between the preexisting condition and the work contribution. That determines exposure on degenerative spine and joint claims, which make up a large share of contested comp litigation.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Is a temporary flare-up of a prior condition compensable?
How is apportionment determined?
