What Are The Benefits Of Medical Life Care Planning In A Personal Injury Case?

Although any accident can be traumatic, those that include major injuries can shake your entire life to its core and leave you with lifelong consequences. Since many individuals are suddenly left with no way to cover their medical expenses and lost wages, they are forced to file personal injury cases.

Unfortunately, even cases where facts are clear as the day still end up under-delivering. This is where, apart from a stellar legal team, medical life care planning comes into the picture. 

Having a life care plan can prove to be a valuable resource in your personal injury case, but it can also make sure you properly plan for the future.

But what is medical life care planning and how exactly can it tip the odds in your personal injury case?

What Is Medical Life Care Planning?

Medical life care planning is a method of accurately estimating the cost of future care for patients with permanent disabilities. The end result of this process is a life care plan - a detailed report that outlines the financial and medical expenses of a person following an injury.

This may include the entire scope of the care, including the costs of daily life, medical costs, and nursing care. 

For this report to be admissible in court, it must be based on skilled analysis and research. In other words, the life care plan has to reflect the true circumstances based on the projected needs and life expectancy of the victim (or in this case, the plaintiff). 

Medical life care planning professionals will leverage different methods to compile the full report, including a careful review of all associated medical records, as well as interviews with the victim, their family, their physicians, etc. 

Since most individuals with catastrophic injuries will require lifelong care, the medical life care plan has to cover all the medical and living needs of the individual for the rest of their life. 

What Does A Life Care Plan Include?

As a comprehensive breakdown of all types of expenses a person will have following an accident, medical life care planning includes:

• Medical bills
• Medical supplies
• Projected life expectancy 
• Long-term nursing care
• Modifications to the victim’s home and vehicle to ensure maximum comfort
• Lost income
• Daily expenses including housing, clothing, utilities, and personal care

Keep in mind that the life care planners will calculate the nominal value of the medical care and other expenses by quantifying the future medical requirements in present value. They will determine how much money is required today to successfully cover the medical requirements that will be needed in the future. 

Does Everyone Need Medical Life Care Planning?

In cases where an accident left someone with serious or permanent injuries, a life care plan is recommended. Since it’s an objective analysis of the financial requirements for the necessary care, it’s a valuable tool that can raise the chance of an accident claim ending with the best possible outcome.

When it comes to minor injuries (those with a short recovery time and no permanent consequences), medical life care planning is redundant as there are different ways of evaluating the damages, primarily calculating lost wages and adding up medical bills. 

Do note that this doesn’t mean a life care plan is recommended only for total disabilities - it’s also useful for injuries that cause any long-term interruption in your daily life. For instance, you may still be able to return to work with some form of trauma but still require lifelong medical treatment. Hence, you should have a life care plan to see to it that your needs are adequately assessed.

Benefits Of Medical Life Care Planning

There are several benefits of involving a life care planner in your personal injury case:

1. Learn the true value of your case

Due to the comprehensive and fact-based nature of the life care plan, you and your attorney will be able to present a detailed projection of your long-term medical expenses. This helps you understand the true value of your case, meaning you’re less likely to walk away with a settlement that doesn’t address the full scope of your care needs.

2. Negotiate a favorable settlement

With medical life care planning, you can build a solid foundation for a winning personal injury case. A complete study of the damages you suffered can be a useful bargaining chip when presenting your demands in court or negotiating with the insurance company. 

As such, you are more likely to convince the other party of the validity of your arguments because you have tangible evidence to back up what you are seeking.

It’s also worth noting that if your case does go to trial, the life care plan can be admitted into evidence, and you can even call your life care planner to testify on your behalf. Seeing as life care planners often come from different medical backgrounds, their presence can help the jury better understand the medical terminology that may have been used in the life care plan.

3. Plan for the future

Personal injury cases are stressful and carry a great deal of uncertainty. However, with a life care plan, you have peace of mind that everything will work out in the end, not to mention that you and your family can successfully anticipate any challenges that lie ahead.

You’ll have a clear grasp of your needs moving forward (along with full research of the costs) and everyone involved will be able to adapt accordingly. 

Take An Objective Approach To Your Case

Medical life care planning aids you and your attorney approach a case with a new level of confidence. A life care plan is the most systematic approach and often becomes a key piece of evidence in personal injury cases where the injuries don’t seem catastrophic on the surface

For example, if you have chronic pain syndrome as a result of the accident, you might be able to continue working. Nevertheless, you’ll still require lifelong medical care moving forward, which is why you’ll need a life care plan to successfully convince the other side that you deserve an x amount of money.

If you’re looking for tried and tested life care planners, look no further than OAS. We’ve spent decades assisting plaintiffs and legal teams with detailed reports that paint an accurate picture of all types of disabilities - and we’ve helped them win. 

Fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment with nationwide leaders in life care planning.