The workers’ compensation practitioner has now become a forced bedfellow of CMS, like it or not. If you fail to “issue spot” in relevant settlements, you will have problems.
октября 02, 2023 at 12:12 PM
By Anthony Natale III | октября 02, 2023 at 12:12 PM
In the summer of 1996, a collective feeling of relief reverberated through the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation bar. Finally, the concept of a full and final settlement of all liability was approved and in its nascency. In years prior, cases seemed to drone on forever and the complicated process to close out a claim (or at least indemnity liability) was limited to the “commutation” method—theoretical stipulations as to future earning capacity in order to arrive at a commuted present-day payment. The math alone was impetus enough to move to another area of law.
The compromise and release settlement is the most profound change in Pennsylvania’s workers’ compensation history. But the winds of change carry with it pitfalls and stumbling blocks that leave even the most venerable workers’ compensation litigator trembling in the shadow of perceived dereliction. The pressure can be unbearable as every paragraph of the settlement agreement will impact the parties forever. Looming somewhat unseen in the background is the oft overlooked and dastardly duty of considering the interests of the U.S. Treasury’s Medicare trust funds, aka “protecting Medicare’s interests.”
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