Synergy’s Workers’ Compensation Medicare Secondary Payer Advice Column
The Medicare Secondary Payer Act impacts workers’ compensation, liability, and no-fault settlements involving a Medicare beneficiary.
Tag: Workers' Comp
Synergy’s Workers’ Compensation Medicare Secondary Payer Advice Column
October 14, 2021 Rasa Fumagalli JD, MSCC, CMSP-F As we reflect on the 20th anniversary of the devastating September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on US soil and all the lives lost, we cannot forget the heroic efforts of all the first responders and workers involved in the clean-up of the devastation sites. Since then, many […]
Synergy’s Workers’ Compensation Medicare Secondary Payer Advice Column
September 9, 2021 Samantha Webster Structured settlements may be used to fund a Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA). Samantha Webster, Synergy’s Director of Case Management, addresses two common questions that come up about funding of a WCMSA with a structured settlement annuity. Question #1: “Are there different structured settlement options to fund a Medicare Set-Aside […]
Synergy’s Workers’ Compensation Medicare Secondary Payer Advice Column
July 28, 2021 Rasa Fumagalli JD, MSCC, CMSP-F Introducing “Since You Asked,” Synergy’s first in a series of columns addressing MSP compliance questions in the area of workers’ compensation. Question: “My client is settling her case and does not know what to do with her Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) funds. I’m not quite sure […]
Post-Settlement Conditional Payment Issues in Workers’ Compensation Claims
May 13, 2021 Rasa Fumagalli JD, MSCC, CMSP-F The conditional payment recovery process in a workers’ compensation claim is not always smooth. Although the workers’ compensation insurance carrier will generally resolve any conditional payments in an accepted claim, the injured employee and counsel may find themselves in receipt of a post-settlement conditional payment notice or […]
Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) Arrangement
April 8, 2021 Rasa Fumagalli JD, MSCC, CMSP-F The nature of the Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) has evolved over the years since the 2001 Patel Memo. That evolution has seen us move from every WCMSA that met the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) internal workload review threshold being submitted to CMS for […]
Why Qualified Settlement Funds are an Important Tool for Trial Lawyers to Understand
What do you do when you settle a case like this where your client is on public assistance, there are allocation issues, settlement planning issues must be addressed, and there are liens to negotiate? Where can you “park” the money while you set up any necessary public benefit preservation trusts, determine allocation of the proceeds, figure out a financial plan, and negotiate the liens?
Binding CMS to its WCMSA Determination
February 11, 2021 Rasa Fumagalli, JD, MSCC, CMSP-F Securing CMS review of a Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) proposal can, at times, be cumbersome. Once the CMS WCMSA determination letter is received, parties may often just close their files after the settlement funds are disbursed. This brief article will address the frequently overlooked CMS determination […]
Medicare Set-Aside Self-Administration: What is new?
B. Josh Pettingill Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the latest edition of their Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) self-administration toolkit. This toolkit is intended to serve as a guidebook or roadmap for how to properly administer a Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) account. The statistics show that 99% of claimants elect […]