Q: Can you get a lump sum from workmens comp instead of medicare set a side for the rest of your living life.

A: If you eligible for Medicare or SSDI and your settlement is above $25,000, Mediare has laws saying that any payment for future medical bills for a workers comp injury must be paid into a Medicare Set Aside trust and not paid to the claimant directly in a settlement. Other money that is not for future medical bills can be paid in a lump sum to the Claimant.

A: A Lump Sum INSTEAD OF the Medicare Set-Aside?? No, that is an 'either/or" choice.

IF you are getting Medicare or Social Security, and you want a 'divorce' from the Comp Insurer for that Lump Sum ending to the case, there's going to be a Medicare Set-Aside (MSA).

The insurer wants an MSA to protect itself from the Social Security Administration in the coming years... rules say it's only for settlements above $25,000 but most insurers want the MSA for any Medicare recipient.

You cannot choose between a Medicare SEt-Aside or a Lump Sum because the MSA IS PART OF the Lump Sum settlement process.

You MAY CHOOSE between Stipulations that keep Future Medical open (no set-aside required!), or a Compromise & Release which closes Future Medical (set-aside required for Medicare folks).

IF YOU SETTLE with the Stipulations With Request For Award, it's sort of a marriage! You and the Comp Insurer are joined together to tangle over each Future Medical Treatment decision for life. Medicare stays out of this relationship*.

IF YOU SETTLE with the Compromise & RElease AGreement, it's a divorce. The Comp Insurer is buying your Future Medical rights from you for cash.

So, when Medicare is about to be paying your medical bills, Medicare wants a piece of that cash.

The piece of that Future Medical cash = Medicare Set-Aside (MSA).

Hope that clears it up a bit for you!