Which unappealing situation would you prefer?
A. You must seek permission to see any medical provider; then, you may have to wait and/or travel far distances to visit the physician. Any medications, surgeries, or procedures must first be approved, and there’s a good chance some will be denied.
B. You have to navigate a complex healthcare system yourself — meaning you’re on your own to find the right specialists and ensure they charge according to your state’s ‘fee schedule.’ You pay full retail prices for doctor visits and all medications and treatments. You must fully comply with the myriad Medicare requirements or risk ultimately losing that benefit. You are extremely worried you won’t have enough money to pay for your medical care, your mortgage and send your child to college. Short of paying excessive fees for expert advice, there is no one to guide you.
Complex Issues Can Prevent Settlement
Neither scenario is appealing; yet, those are the choices facing many injured workers with long-standing, complex workers’ compensation claims. While many would like to settle and finally leave the workers’ comp system; issues such as lien resolution, financial planning, legal issues, and insurance concerns are just some of the challenging hurdles which are seemingly too difficult to overcome.
Fortunately, a solution to these challenges can often be found that meets the injured worker’s unique needs, along with those of the attorneys, employer, payers, and others involved. Finding the right people to work with can get claims off payers’ books and ensure the injured worker’s financial and medical needs are taken care of throughout his lifetime.
The Settlement Consultant
A settlement consultant is a settlement expert with knowledge and access to various settlement tools to address the most challenging workers’ compensation claim issues. For example, a consultant that works with insurance planners can provide comparative information on insurance products, such as disability or long-term care insurance. Having the benefit of an expert in Medicare Set-Asides available can ensure compliance and reporting issues are addressed, so future benefits are not put at risk.
These experts can be brought into the process early on, so the settlement is set up appropriately. Rather than just running quotes, the settlement consultant should act as the general contractor in identifying, bringing and managing the best experts to the table to address the issues preventing a positive outcome for all parties in the case.
Settlement Consultant as General Contractor
If you were building a house, you would need workers to lay the foundation and put up the walls, electrical and plumbing specialists, roofers, and HVAC professionals. You might want a home theater with the latest equipment and would need an expert for consultation and installation. Maybe you’d opt for a decorative pond on the property, and would need someone experienced in grading the land.
You would want a general contractor to oversee the entire project and make sure things were done according to your specifications and timeframe.
A settlement consultant should function as a general contractor who coordinates all the moving parts to the settlement. Just like the best general contractors, a settlement consultant should be able to identify and coordinate all the right players needed to create a truly win-win settlement.
Among the qualifications of the best settlement consultants are:
- Vast experience and deep connections. The best settlement consultants have vast experience and deep connections with many vendors. They can find the right ones for each injured worker.
- Whole-person approach. Superior consultants look beyond the amount of the settlement. They work closely with the injured worker, to ascertain not only his medical needs, but other considerations; such as unique legal issues to be resolved, insurance concerns; retirement needs, and college funding for children or grandchildren.
- Ability to uncover lifetime needs. The most qualified settlement consultants spend time getting to know the injured worker and identifying his needs; then bringing in experts to address them.
- No cost to the injured worker. The consultant’s services should also be completely fee transparent, and come at no cost to the injured worker.
Use Settlement Consultant Early
A settlement consultant should be brought into the case as early as possible, even before the worker has agreed to settle the claim. By forming a relationship with the injured worker and understanding his needs, the consultant can present a variety of customized solutions to focus on his particular situation and help reach an optimal settlement
Conclusion
Settling a workers’ compensation claim can be a nerve-wracking experience for an injured worker, especially one who has been in the system for an extended period of time. Working with a truly qualified settlement consultant can help settle the claim and empower the injured worker to lead the life they deserve.
Author Michael Stack, CEO Amaxx LLC. He is an expert in workers’ compensation cost containment systems and helps employers reduce their workers’ comp costs by 20% to 50%. He works as a consultant to large and mid-market clients, is a co-author of Your Ultimate Guide To Mastering Workers Comp Costs, a comprehensive step-by-step manual of cost containment strategies based on hands-on field experience, and is founder & lead trainer of Amaxx Workers’ Comp Training Center .
Contact: mstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
Workers’ Comp Roundup Blog: https://blog.reduceyourworkerscomp.com/
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