SETTLEMENTS WITH MEDICARE SET ASIDE ARE THEY THE WAY TO GO – PART 3

I’ve talked (blogged) briefly about the benefit to a Medicare Set Aside and it’s impact on the amount of a settlement in Part 1 & 2 of this blog.  Now let me give you a small example of how this worked.

I had a woman contact me about settling her future medical care a few years after I had already settled her case with open medical care on her back.  Initially, after discussing her very sparse treatment over the past years, it was agreed that an additional thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) would be a reasonable settlement for future medical care.  However, before we try to settle her claim, the adjuster indicated that they wanted a set-aside done – although to this day, I don’t believe the case warranted such.  I was happy to agree to same based upon the fact that it usually meant a higher settlement threshold.

After receiving the set aside, we were able to negotiate a settlement for over $100,000.00 based upon a set aside the inexperienced adjuster believed was necessary, when in fact it was not.

Again, this is a very small example of the monetary difference a Medicare Set Aside can make when settling (i.e. closing) your future medical care in a Workers’ Compensation matter.  We have settled several six and seven figure cases, including catastrophic cases, where the Medicare Set Aside created the foundation for the negotiation of a settlement where the difference was tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.