Many victims of oilfield injuries face weeks or months of painful recovery and rehabilitation. Medical costs can easily reach over six figures, especially if you require surgery, skin grafts, or therapy.
When your Houston oilfield accident attorney is calculating the value of your case, one common form of material loss is a loss you technically haven’t suffered yet—future medical needs.
Any settlement or jury award you receive after a painful oilfield injury should cover the estimated value of future medical needs. At Havens & Associates, we want to ensure you’re fairly compensated. Here’s a breakdown of how to calculate future medical costs in oilfield injury settlements.
What are future medical expenses in oilfield injury settlements?
Your future medical needs are just what they sound like the cost of medical care you will require to treat your injuries, even after the case settles. If you have extensive injuries or a long recovery period, or if you’ve been permanently disabled and require care in a skilled nursing facility, then your case may be resolved before you reach Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI).
Your doctors may be unsure how long you’ll need treatment. If it’s several months or even years, your attorneys may opt to resolve the claim and include consideration for the anticipated cost of treating complications.
Future medical expenditures can cover many different forms of care, including:
- Surgery (either to treat complications or as part of your initial treatment plan)
- Hospital stay
- Medications
- Diagnostic testing
- Rehabilitative therapy
- Mental health treatment or therapy
- Durable medical equipment
- Nursing home care expenses
Your attorney considers every possibility when calculating the cost of future medical damages.
| Resource: Impairment income benefits (IIBs) – Texas Department of Insurance |
How does my lawyer prove future medical costs?
Part of building our oilfield injury claim includes properly valuing your damages. We strive to settle your case out of court, in negotiations or mediation, so there may be a bit of back-and-forth with the other party. That’s because insurance companies have a vastly different idea of what the proper value for a claim is than we do.
Some of the elements of our case for future medical care involve:
- Expert testimony – We employ expert medical witnesses who can attest to the seriousness of your injuries and the treatment options for future needs.
- Testimony from your treatment team – You have a primary care physician and a team of specialists responsible for managing your care. Your team may have specific treatment options for you and can testify why these options are necessary and estimate their cost.
We then use this testimony to connect the oilfield accident, your injuries, and your medical care. It’s not unusual for the other side to claim that certain procedures are unnecessary or that your injuries are from a pre-existing condition (and not the accident). We bolster our assertions with factual medical testimony from experts.
Methods used to calculate future medical expenses
An oilfield injury attorney will calculate the value of future medical needs in several ways.
Total lifestyle
This type of calculation may be used for people who will never reach their pre-accident level of functionality – physical, cognitive, or both. Your lawyer and treatment team create a life care plan that includes the expenses necessary to maintain it.
Additional expense
We may use this approach if your treating physician believes you’ll eventually regain your pre-accident functionality. It determines the approximate amount of money necessary to cover those needs.
We consider what you’ll need in the future and adjust to ensure we request enough to cover complications and the unexpected.
Remember that what your personal injury lawyer believes is a fair amount and what the other party’s insurance company believes is a fair amount are likely quite different. Insurance adjusters will do their best to minimize the cost of your care or contest procedures that your doctors believe are necessary.
This is where it counts to have an experienced Houston oilfield injury attorney by your side. We have experience in these types of negotiations and know how to justify the settlement amount we request. However, when large future medical expenses are involved, there’s a much higher likelihood of trial.
Skilled attorneys protecting your interests
It’s critical to accurately calculate future medical expenses, as you cannot return for more money once you accept a settlement and sign the agreement.
We understand the challenges of petitioning for future medical expenses as part of your accident injury settlement. We are ready to help you secure the highest possible settlement in your claim. Contact Havens & Associates online or at (713) 955-2215 for a free consultation.
