In some personal injury suits, Medicare requires money be "set aside" for medical care when opposing parties settle. This number must be spent down before Medicare will agree to step in and pay for medical costs resulting from the injury. Put simply, the law is intended to force the parties to comprise in the village some or all medical costs resulting from the injury so that the cost is not shifted to the government while the injured someone pockets money that should have gone to pay for care. Medicare set-asides, in some form, have been around for a long time now any way up-to-date legislation has brought some big changes to the way that set-asides work.
The recently passed law requires the party being sued to article safe bet settlements to Medicare that were not previously covered by the law. Though some have overstated the supervene of the new law, the changes can and do supervene the village of a case. If your attorney doesn't understand the changes and how they can affect the village process, it leads to a larger payment than would otherwise be necessary. For instance, when the issue is not addressed at all in the village documents, the other side may come back and ask more money for the set-aside after the settlement. Poor knowledge of the law gives the opposing party leverage that you cannot afford to give.
The following are courses of action that may help avoid pitfalls in safe bet situations. Please note, these recommendations are for educational/informational purposes only and are not intended as legal advice. You should consult an attorney for more information.
1) Include language in the village document showing that the parties have taken Medicare's interest into consideration.
2) In high risk cases, it may be acceptable to originate an Msa funds article and submit it to the town for Medicare Services to achieve the highest level of safety and assurance.
3) Draft a article yourself showing Medicare's time to come expenses and use that as the justification in determining the number of monies that should be placed within a Medicare set-aside.
Medicare Set-Asides - New Law Affects the Way Settlements Are Negotiated