Why Should I Use a Life Care Plan?
Have you been involved recently in an accident or injury where potential litigation exists? Do you suffer from a serious permanent or catastrophic injury or illness? You may be considering the benefits of a life care plan. You may also be asking yourself a number of important questions, including: “Why is a life care plan the right choice?” and “How much will a life care plan cost?”
I’m going to do my best to answer that question in its entirety. When we’re finished, you’ll know whether a life care planner is the correct next step to take in your journey.
First, let’s clarify who “I” is in the original question, “Why should I use a life care plan?” In other words, who is asking the question? There are 3-4 unique perspectives:
The injured individual
The injured individual’s family and/or loved ones
A plaintiff attorney (representing an injured individual)
A defense attorney (representing an insurance company or a defendant being sued for negligence)
Here is the short answer. Generally, with rare exceptions, the person taking advantage of a life care plan will receive a lot of benefits. If you have been injured, a life care planning goal will help you to specify your long-term medical, psychological, and rehabilitation needs. Not only that, it will estimate your requirements over the course of your lifetime. You will have a specific and very comprehensive roadmap for all the care you will need and will likely benefit from now and in the future. It is customized in every way to you.
This varies quite a bit from the feedback you receive when being treated for an ongoing injury by a doctor. A treating or consulting physician is often unwilling (or unable) to tell you what the future holds in terms of medical care and costs. It’s a frustrating situation when you are actively searching for answers and being proactive about a tough condition.
In cases where there is litigation or potential litigation, the courts seek out specialized knowledge of life care planners, particularly those who are medical doctors with experience treating similar injuries. This way they—and juries—are better able to understand the long-term effects of serious and catastrophic injuries and the associated economic damages of such cases.
Injured individual’s family or loved ones
The life care plan benefits are myriad. A plan put together by BiFulco Medical Group will answer many vital questions . . . everything surrounding the confusion and complexities of a serious or catastrophic injury. Families want their father, mother, spouse, or child back. They want to relieve their pain and move forward. A life care plan, and an experienced planner, helps the injured individual “find their way back” to some quality of life, and meet their rehab potential. The plan helps the injured individual reduce pain and suffering wherever possible and helps to avoid complications.
We know you have additional questions about our life care planning services. We highly recommend that you schedule a call. BiFulco Medical Group can help!
Plaintiff Attorney (representing an injured individual)
You and your staff benefit in several ways from the acquisition of a life care solution for your client. The care plan enables you to communicate to all interested parties (insurance adjustor, defense attorney, juries and judge) what the “true nature” of the injury is, and how much it will cost to care for your client, now and into the future. You also benefit because your client now has an accurate and easy-to-understand roadmap which spells out which doctors they should see, how often, and how much it will cost, which diagnostic tests should be done, how often and how much, etc.
Defense Attorney (representing a defendant or insurance companies’ interests)
You and your staff benefit in several ways. A life care planner can review and critique a plaintiff life care plan. A life care planner can write, create, or author a defense life care plan. A life care planner can act as a consultant to you and your team and assist with deposition questions to the plaintiff life care planner. So, in short, a defense life care planner can assist in shielding your client from unnecessary losses or exposure financially by accurately clarifying the plaintiff’s future care needs.
In addition to all of the above, there are further bonuses to working with a life care planner. The trick is to find the best possible one for your case. I am a licensed physician and MD, an experienced treating medical doctor who specializes in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (aka Physiatry, pronounced fizz-eye-at-tree). I can determine and opine on permanency, causation, the reasonableness of past medical bills, life expectancy, and more. I can help.