Id. at 417.In so holding, the Court clarified its previous decisions in Reliable Foods, Inc. v. Workmen's Compensation Appeal Board (Horrocks), 660 A.2d 162 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1995) (the claimant was entitled to receive simultaneous benefits for both partial and total disability from separate work injuries up to the maximum compensation rate because, had it not been for the first injury, the claimant would have been receiving a higher wage when the claimant was subsequently totally disabled), and Trenton China Pottery v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Mensch), 773 A.2d 1265 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2001) (the claimant was allowed to receive simultaneous total disability benefits for two separate work injuries; the court apportioned the liability for benefits between the two insurers). See also Tomlinson v. Workmen's Comp. Appeal Bd. (J. Baker, Inc.), 167 Pa. Commw. 329, 648 A.2d 96 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1994) (there is no proscription on the receipt of simultaneous compensation, if the total compensation does not exceed the statutory maximum).
In that situation, we have held that the claimant is entitled to receive compensation for both partial and total disability for the separate injuries concurrently, provided the amount payable does not exceed the maximum benefit payable under the Act. See, e.g., Reliable Foods, Inc. v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (Horrocks), 660 A.2d 162 (Pa.Cmwlth. 1995). As we reasoned in Reliable Foods, when the first injury resolves into partial disability because the claimant is capable of returning to the workforce, but with a reduced earning capacity, it is logically sound to allow a claimant to receive benefits for both the partial disability and the subsequent total disability, so long as the maximum rate is not exceeded, because, had it not been for the claimant's first partial disability, he or she would have been receiving a higher wage when the claimant was subsequently totally disabled.