Synergy’s blog brings you the industry’s foremost thought leadership InSights on matters of healthcare lien resolution and Medicare Secondary Payer Compliance. Visit often to discover helpful InSights on important lien resolution compliance issues.
January 17, 2020 In Publix Super Markets, Inc. v. Figareau et. al., Case No. 8:19-cv-545, 2019 WL 6311160 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 25, 2019), the Court permitted an ERISA self-funded health plan’s equitable lien claim to attach to the plaintiff attorney. This case is further evidence that using Synergy Settlement’s Lien Resolution service can be essential to […]
January 8, 2020 By: Jason D. Lazarus, J.D., LL.M., MSCC The Department of Justice (DOJ) is serious about and intent on enforcement of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act when it comes to conditional payments. There are now numerous examples of these actions being taken by the DOJ. In this instance, the case against a Philadelphia-based […]
Reduce Taxes and Save for Retirement with Attorney Fee Deferrals A few months ago, a trial attorney in New York City had just settled a big case. He was like a lot of people reading this article; well-respected, successful, hardworking. But while he was excited about the result, he was frustrated with the massive amount […]
B. Josh Pettingill For over a decade, there has been episodic activity from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Liability Medicare Set-Asides (LMSAs), including but not limited to, policy memorandums, Medicare Learning Network announcements, a notice of proposed rulemaking with subsequent withdrawal, an advanced notice of a notice of proposed rulemaking as well […]
B. Josh Pettingill Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the latest edition of their Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) self-administration toolkit. This toolkit is intended to serve as a guidebook or roadmap for how to properly administer a Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside (WCMSA) account. The statistics show that 99% of claimants elect […]
By Jason D. Lazarus, J.D., LL.M., MSCC The government takes its reimbursement rights seriously and is willing to pursue trial lawyers who ignore Medicare’s interest. On November 4th, 2019, The United States Attorney for the District of Maryland announced that a Baltimore-based law firm paid the United States $91,406.98 to resolve allegations that it failed […]
According to Yahoo Finance, in 1998 59% of Fortune 500 companies offered traditionally defined benefit pension plans to new hires. However, by 2017 Yahoo reported that only 16% of those same companies offered a traditional defined benefit pension plan. Defined Benefits Pensions typically pay a retiring employee a percentage of their average earnings for the […]
By Jason D. Lazarus Introduction Catastrophically injured individuals have unique needs when it comes time to settle their cases. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work given the complexities that are faced today upon resolution of a personal injury lawsuit. Consideration of how healthcare will be obtained have become much more complicated with the Affordable Care […]
B. Josh Pettingill The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approval of a Medicare Set-Aside is a voluntary process but getting CMS approval has become the standard practice when resolving catastrophic workers’ compensation cases with Medicare eligible, injured workers. There are countless ways that an approval can be delayed. If any of the following […]