FSCO’s expert panel says ‘no’ to combining physical and psychological in catastrophic impairment designations

Physical and psychological impairments should not be combined for the purpose of catastrophic determination, according to an expert panel appointed by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) to draft a new definition of catastrophic impairment.
The FSCO panel released its draft report, part of the province’s auto insurance reform package, on Apr. 15, 2011. Stakeholders have until May 13 to submit their comments on the draft report.
“The expert panel did not find that combining physical and mental/behavioural conditions can be achieved in a valid and reliable way with the currently available methods of impairment cross-rating,” the report says.
“The panel had difficulty understanding how combinations of physical impairments and psychological conditions that independently do not meet the criteria outlined in the revised version of 2(e) and 2(f) could be equated to a severe injury to the brain or, spinal cord, or to blindness.”
The panel suggested further research is needed in order to draft a clinically comparable combined psycho-physical whole person impairment threshold that corresponds to the currently accepted physical threshold.
“Therefore, until further scientific evidence is gained, we recommend that separate criteria and methods of evaluation be used for the determination of catastrophic impairment and that physical and psychiatric impairments not be combined for the purpose of catastrophic determination,” the report says.
Also among its recommendations, the panel suggested an “interim” status be established to allow insureds with traumatic brain injuries and major physical impairments to obtain immediate access to rehabilitation services.