Some Workers Compensation Claims seem to have a life of their own. Before you know it, years have passed since the Date of Injury. Here are 3 signals telling you to take a hard look at settling now. The Injured Workers is 61 years old. Once an injured worker reaches age 62½, any buy-out of future medical […]
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‘Twas the night before mediation
And all through the firm
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even a worm
But then one lawyer
Asleep on a couch
Shot up, hit his head
And said with an “Ouch”
Oh my, I’ve got
That mediation tomorrow
I didn’t do a brief
Much, much to my sorrow
Then what to his exhausted eyes should appear
But Mediator Snyder with news of good cheer
You don’t need it fancy
You don’t need it long
Just give me some clues
So the time’s not spent wrong
Just send me an “e”
It’s all confidential
Tell me the issues
What’s the dollar potential?
With that she was gone
The lawyer banged out a brief
He’d be ready tomorrow
Oh what a relief.
This holiday season
When your time seems too short
Turn to mediation
And stay out of court.
Happy Holidays!
Understanding insurance reserves can help settle a claim. A reserve is a pot of money set aside to pay for a specific expense category. Typically, there are separate pots for indemnity, medical and med-legal expenses.
Sometimes a negotiator finds that a claim can be closed for an amount more than remains in the indemnity and medical reserves. However, part of the settlement can be classified as a med-legal expense. By spending the money from the med-legal reserve, settlement can be achieved while staying within current reserve limits.
Then there’s this interesting phenomenon. A study showed that for adults over 40 years old, receipt of a periodic payment such as a bi-weekly disability check increased their life expectancy. People literally lived for the check. An injured worker may be on the long end of the life expectancy bell-shaped curve.
Add to all of this advances in medical science. People are living longer, and some mortality tables are out-of-date.
These factors require workers compensation professionals to think twice before assuming the injured worker’s life expectancy is shorter than normal. To avoid stair-step reserving, one needs to approach the issue cautiously.
Why the Life Expectancy Estimate Is Too High
On the other hand, an injured worker by definition has some disability, and it might shorten life expectancy. An orthopedic injury in itself may not shorten life expectancy, but pain medication can. A holistic evaluation of lifetime medical care should consider co-morbidities as well as the industrial injury.
One More Thing to Talk About
In settlement negotiations parties may differ about how an injured worker’s life expectancy projection affects case evaluation. Add this to the list of issues to be discussed at mediation.
YOU THOUGHT MEDIATION AND SEX HAD NOTHING IN COMMON?
NOT SO!
Both mediation and sex should:
Happen between persons committed to the process as an essential part of the big picture
Occur with appropriate frequency
Stimulate participants to contribute their best selves
Continue until mutual satisfaction
Make participants feel better at conclusion
Empower parties to turn to other areas of life with renewed vitality and creativity.
The Mediator might rule against me.
“MSA” stands for Medicare Set-Aside. Settling a Workers Compensation claim often calls for consideration of Medicare’s interests. MSA-speak has its own language. The problem is that the term “MSA” is used to mean different things. Understanding the 4 different items which may be referred to as “MSA” is critical to success in this area:
MSA Report
MSA Allocation
MSA Approval
MSA Account
The MSA Report is prepared by an MSA allocation company. It is an analysis of medical reports and paid medical benefits resulting in a recommendation for an MSA allocation. The report typically provides both lump sum and annuitized funding options. The report is not “the MSA”. Multiple versions of a report may be prepared during evaluation and negotiation. Nothing has been “set aside” just because there is a report.
The MSA Allocation must be in good faith. The parties can agree on an allocation without a report, though this is usually limited to cases brought by Medicare beneficiaries which settle for less than $25,000 and denied cases where the settlement is unrelated to medical expenses. An allocation in a settlement document can be as simple as “The parties have taken Medicare’s interests into account and set aside $800 for future Medicare-eligible claim-related expenses.”
Parties can choose to seek from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Approval of an MSA allocation. Seeking approval is optional. Only the two classes of cases which meet CMS “review thresholds” can be submitted. Class One includes all cases brought by Medicare beneficiaries settling for at least $25,000. Class Two includes cases where the settlement is at least $250,000 and the worker is likely to be eligible for Medicare within 30 months. If CMS approves the allocation, it cannot seek more than the approved amount later.
Upon conclusion of the settlement, the worker will open an MSA Account. This must be a separate account solely for MSA funds. It is supposed to be interest bearing, though it may be difficult to find an institution that would pay interest on smaller accounts. If any of these concepts can be called simply “the MSA”, it is the account. Money has in fact been set aside, separate from the rest of the settlement and separate from the worker’s other assets. Note that the correct term is “account”, not trust. MSA Accounts can be custodial or non-custodial.
“Do we need an MSA?” may be appropriate in referring to the entire process. And there are plenty of times you want to use a verbal shortcut. But vague references as to whether the subject is a report, allocation, approval or account can sometimes lead to misunderstandings.
There’s a lot more to the Affordable Care Act than buying private health insurance through an exchange marketplace like www.CoveredCA.com.
Four kinds of public benefits can help people get the medical care they need:
These types of benefits are frequently confused, especially because the names are so similar. For optimal settlement of a Workers Compensation case, you need to know the injured worker’s eligibility for these plans.
Sometimes the issues the lawyers and adjusters are discussing are not what is most important to the Applicant.
Recently, in a pretty small case, the professionals told me the disagreements were about what had been paid and what was still due. The injured worker told me his biggest concern was that, although he had returned to modified duty, the employer had told him there was no more work for someone with his disability. The injured worker was terrified that he would be out of a job with no ability to get another one, but that is not what the lawyers were discussing.
Many times, the injured worker’s biggest issue is not one that is dispositive of any issue in the case, but, in fact, is the driver for the injured worker’s decisions– the proverbial elephant in the room the negotiators are trying to ignore.
Because these are often personal matters, the injured worker may not share these concerns with the employer’s side– or even the injured worker’s own lawyer.
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“AFFORDABLE CARE ACT”
NOT “OBAMACARE”
The term “Obamacare” is a nickname for the Affordable Care Act. But sometimes politics can get in the way of clear thinking.
The Affordable Care Act encompasses much more than the purchase of private health insurance on an exchange like Covered California, www.CoveredCA.com. When discussing settlement with counsel and clients, talk about using “The Affordable Care Act” to avoid the emotions the term “Obamacare” triggers.
Make sure you mediate with someone who understands all the options for replacing medical benefits in our new healthcare environment.