The Role of the Professional Administrator: Who Manages Future Medical Money in Liability Settlements?
When someone is seriously injured and wins a settlement or court award, part of that money is often meant to cover their future medical care. Managing those funds properly is crucial, both for the injured person and for protecting Medicare’s interests.
How It Works in Workers’ Compensation
In the workers’ compensation world, insurers, self-insured employers, adjusters, and attorneys already know how a Medicare Set-Aside arrangement should be funded and administered. When a settlement includes a Medicare Set-Aside (MSA), a professional administrator like Fidelity Fiduciary Company often manages the account. That means:
Holding and protecting the MSA funds
Paying medical bills as they come in
Filing annual attestation statements with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Paying interest on the account
Sending the claimant a 1099 each year
What’s Different About Liability Cases
Liability cases (personal injury claims outside workers’ comp) follow different rules. Right now, CMS doesn’t require anyone to submit a liability Medicare Set-Aside (LMSA) for review.
When a Medicare beneficiary receives a settlement, judgment, award, or other funds, Medicare still needs protection, and any conditional payments Medicare made must be resolved.
How Professional Administrators Play a Key Role
In catastrophic injury cases, the settlement may need to cover years of medical treatment, prescriptions, and durable medical equipment (DME). More attorneys are realizing they can hand this future-medical portion to a professional administrator, with no reporting to CMS required.
There are real advantages:
Access to discounts. When a professional administrator, like FFC, manages the funds, the injured person can receive the same discounts available to MSA claimants.
Less burden on families. Many plaintiffs and caregivers aren’t equipped to manage complex, ongoing medical care, let alone the large sums needed to pay for it.
Peace of mind for attorneys. Knowing the funds are handled responsibly takes pressure off everyone involved.
At FFC, Your Best Interest is Our Top Priority
A professional administrator acts as a fiduciary, meaning they’re obligated to manage the money in the injured person’s best interest. Fidelity Fiduciary Company has done exactly that for more than 25 years, giving plaintiffs and their attorneys confidence that future medical funds will last and be used as intended.
Have a liability case? Give us a call at (866) 642 - 1237.