Medicare Matters: Part III --- Utilizing Medicare Set Aside Accounts

"Medicare Matters" is must-reading for anyone dealing with the settlement of personal injury or workers' compensation cases. Jill Schroeder and Stephanie Stacy have published the third and final installment of their readable series in the Nebraska Lawyer. This one addresses the use of Medicare Set Aside accounts (MSAs).

Medicare has the right to recover not only past conditional payments for accident related care, but also future payments. With the increased vigilance of Medicare in collecting these future amounts, the MSA has become the recommended vehicle to protect the payment of these costs by placing a portion of settlement proceeds in a designated bank account.

Properly utilized MSA's reduce or eliminate the liability of claimants, attorneys and insurance carriers for future conditional payments, thus ensuring that future Medicare benefits are not jeopardized and allowing significant claims to be settled.

Jill and Stacie are members of the Baylor Evnen law firm in Lincoln, Nebraska. We owe them our gratitude for enlightening those like me who are only occasionally  exposed to Medicare issues.

Medicare Matters: Parts I, II & III can all be accessed on my website.