As many in Colorado are aware, the workers’ compensation insurance program is intended to help workers who have been injured on the job. The benefits are intended to pay for the medical costs associated with the injury to the worker and also, in some cases, pay for the damages caused to the individual. Sometimes, workers’ compensation benefit payments can involve Medicare Set Asides.
Medicare Set Asides (MSAs) often involve workers that have on-going medical treatments. In Colorado, this can mean that the worker is not expected to recover to the extent that they can return to employment in their previous career. Such workers may find that they are offered a structured settlement in certain cases, one authority notes.
Under a structured settlement, a worker who has been injured on the job and likely faces future medical costs may have payments set aside for those future medical costs. In some cases, additional funds may also be awarded to the injured worker. The structured settlement would make payments at defined times to the injured person for medical costs, though not in one lump sum.
In some cases the injured worker who finds that they qualify for workers’ compensation may have to deal with injuries from which they will not recover. This is when the workers’ compensation program, in combination with Medicare, can offer different types of payments to the individual. Though each case is different, the most important element of the insurance benefit is to ensure that the injured worker is compensated for their suffering and that their medical costs are paid.
Source: claimsjournal.com, “Workers’ Comp Structured Settlements Beneficial in Medicare Set Asides,” Denise Johnson, Oct. 9, 2012