Skip to main content

Death to MSA Annuities?


Death to MSA Annuities?



Why You Should Care About Senate Bill 3079

On June 18, 2018, Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced Senate Bill 3079, Medicare Secondary Payer and Workers’ Compensation Settlement Agreements Act of 2018. The Bill introduces several initiatives aimed at streamlining the CMS Medicare Set-Aside review and appeals process, including an option to allow MSA funds be paid directly to Medicare. The Bill suggests an alternative to self or professional administration of a MSA – optional “direct payment” of the MSA to CMS.

Not only will the “direct payment” option have the potential to significantly reduce the number of MSA annuities used in Workers Compensation and Liability settlements, it will negatively impact injured parties post settlement:
·    Increased costs since the injured worker will be subject to Medicare co-pays and deductibles.
·    Reduced access to care since the injured worker would be restricted to Medicare-approved providers.
·    Injured worker will be 100% reliant on government Medicare benefits.
·    Potential overpayment to Medicare if the injured worker underspends the MSA funds, removing opportunity for savings or final distribution to a beneficiary.

Our firm is keeping a close eye on these developments and all others with respect to the structured settlement industry and will keep you apprised of any important developments.

For 20 years we have been Michigan's best and only plaintiff focused structured settlement consultant.

If you have any questions or would like a custom structured settlement annuity quote on one of your cases please don't hesitate to contact us at cyril@whitehousellc.com or (734) 433-1670.

We look forward to seeing many of our plaintiff attorney friends at the Michigan Association for Justice No-Fault seminar tomorrow!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The 4 Biggest 401(k) Rollover Mistakes

  By Cyril S. White, Certified Financial Planner™   As people transition from one employer to another, many are still uncertain about what to do with their 401(k) plan when they leave their employer. Here are 4 of the biggest mistakes you should avoid when considering what to do with your 401(k).   A plan participant leaving an employer typically has four options (and may engage in a combination of these options as well), each choice offering advantages and disadvantages.   1.      Leave the money in his/her former employer’s plan, if permitted; 2.      Roll over the assets to his/her new employer’s plan, if one is available and rollovers are permitted; 3.      Roll over to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA); or 4.      Cash out the account value.  Each of these options can have a significant impact on your financial goals if not planned and implement...

9/17/2023 Weekly Market Performance

  Here is our research department's Weekly Market Performance analysis.  If you have questions or need anything else please contact me at (734) 272-4322 or cyril.white@fourfinancial.com  U.S. and International Equities Markets Mixed The major markets ended mixed this week as the utilities and consumer discretionary sectors led while information technology lagged following Apple’s challenges in China.  Developed international equities posted solid gains this week as European stocks have witnessed their largest gain in six months after the European Central Bank (ECB) signaled an end to its hawkish monetary policy. Next Wednesday, the Federal Reserve meets concerning monetary policy and interest rates.  We believe the Federal Reserve should highlight underlying improvements within the inflation dynamic. In addition, we believe the Fed will not likely declare victory but will probably highlight the risks to growth and inflation are getting into balance. According to...

COVID will not stop us providing unique settlement solutions using structured settlement annuities!

I hope that you are doing well! We just FINALLY completed the settlement of a case for a minor (age 17) that we were initially engaged by our plaintiff attorney client in February 2021, to provide structured settlement annuity quotes! Although the claimant was very close to the age of majority the key to the case was not giving him all of the settlement proceeds, which was over $120,000, at age 18. Having been in this business for over 20 years I cannot tell you the number of sad cases we have witnessed where the young claimant receives their settlement proceeds at age 18 only to blow through all the funds before anyone can blink and make bad decisions with the proceeds! This case involved two liability insurance carriers Liberty Mutual and Member Select. We coordinated multiple rounds of document revisions and had to have a separate set of different documents for each insurance carrier. In addition, one of the carriers would not fund the annuity until we had a fully executed court ord...