Calculating future medical expenses is important in ensuring you receive enough compensation for your personal injury claim. Particularly in cases where the injuries sustained are severe and long-term treatment is necessary, future medical expenses can make up a large part of the settlement or judgment in a personal injury case. How to estimate these costs in Birmingham, entails a deeper look into the nature of the injury itself, the treatments that will be necessary and expert witnesses. In this article, we will walk through calculating future medical expenses as advised by a Birmingham personal injury lawyer.
Table of Contents
Future Medical Expense Basics
Future medical expenses are the costs of health care that a victim will require after a personal injury claim has been settled or a judgment entered. These expenses may be for numerous treatments and services, such as:
- Continuing medical care and treatment
- Prescription medications
- How does IMC therapy work?
- Medical devices and instruments
- Home care services
- Future surgeries
- Psychological counseling
How future med costs are calculated
1. Find Out When Doctor Predictions Are Due
Getting a thorough prognosis from your treating physician is one of the first steps in computing future medical damages. Such a prognosis simply describes the expected trajectory of how you can expect to recover including what needs to be done and how long those treatments are going to take. The physician’s report you receive should be clear and contain:
- How your injuries are
- When you think things will bounce back
- Permanent disabilities or restrictions
- Future treatments, along with how often
2. Consult Medical Experts
Aside from your treating physician, talking to other specialists can give you a more comprehensive view of your future medical situation. Professionals including orthopedists, neurosurgery and rehabilitation have more information about the types of treatment you will need. These specialists can write detailed reports, and even testify in court if needed to help prove your case.
3. Take into Account the Price of Medical Procedures
When you are confident about how much medical treatments you will need, the next step is to try and put a value on those treatments. This includes:
- Doctor Visits and Hospital Stays: Return to the amount paid on doctors’ office visits, specialist appointments, or a possible hospital stay.
- Medication: Determine if there will be copies of prescriptions needed, including those that may be required for pain management and any treatments ongoing.
- Treatment and Rehabilitation: Covers the expenses caused by physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other rehabilitation services.
4. Use Life Care Planning
Life Care Planning is a process used to anticipate the future medical requirements of an injured individual. Not every catastrophic case needs to have a life care planner, but when the future medical care (and its cost) can be realistically estimated by one who specializes in catastrophic injury cases it will need to be established how extensive that progress is and how to carry out rehabilitation.
5. Account for Inflation
Medical expenses generally increase over time, as the costs of treatment and care will rise due to inflation and advancements in medical technology. Future medical expenses are often calculated based on how much they will cost in the future, and it may be necessary to factor in an expected increase in costs. An economist or some financial expert can use an appropriate inflation rate to predict the future costs of your estimated expenses
Future medical expenses and a personal injury claim involve many heartbreaking medical scenarios, the costs of future treatments, and so understanding roles in medicine will help. An experienced Birmingham personal injury attorney handles this complicated process and makes sure that you earn the awarded compensation for necessary future hospital bills.
