Helping Severely Disabled Workers Get Medical Care
If you have suffered a severe workplace injury that has left you permanently disabled and unable to go back to work, it is important to retain a workers' compensation attorney who is experienced at negotiating Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) agreements.
At the Law Offices of Ralph A. Russo, just outside Hartford, Connecticut, we have helped many clients protect their future medical care with Medicare Set-Aside agreements. To learn more about MSA agreements and your workers' comp options, contact us for a free consultation.
Avoiding the Risk of Medicare Benefits Denial
If you have become disabled to the point where you will not be able to support yourself through work in the foreseeable future, you will likely qualify for Social Security disability (SSD) benefits and eventually for medical coverage through the Medicare system.
However, if you obtain a standard lump sum workers' compensation settlement, your future access to Medicare benefits could be in jeopardy.
The Medicare rules are designed to prevent people from "double-dipping" by getting their medical expenses reimbursed through both workers' compensation and Medicare.
However, unless a Medicare Set-Aside agreement is in place, the government has no way of knowing which part of your workers' comp settlement is for medical care as opposed to lost wages, so it will deduct your full settlement amount from the Medicare benefits you are entitled to.
Structuring Your Settlement to Get You the Benefits You Need
An MSA agreement — also known as a workers' compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) agreement — places part of your workers' comp settlement in a trust for medical care. Once that money is spent, you are entitled to Medicare and can keep the rest of your settlement.
You may want to get your workers' compensation case to be resolved quickly, but you do not want to find out, a few years from now, that you have no way to pay for necessary medical care.
We have extensive experience with the complex process of negotiating Medicare set-aside agreements. Contact us to discuss your case with an experienced workers' compensation lawyer.
