A life care plan is a report calculating the medical and financial support a personal injury victim will require over a lifetime. In Washington, a life care plan is used to determine how much compensation a victim with permanent injuries should expect from at-fault parties.
The lives and wellbeing of Washingtonians can be placed at risk in any corner of our state. An accident on a mountain road or a busy city street may lead to a severe injury. A fall at a grocery store or restaurant could be debilitating. A mistake in an operating room might lead to a permanent disability for a victim.
In these extreme cases of negligence, victims will likely require much more treatment than a night in the emergency room. Estimates are made on the expenses they’ll incur over a lifetime of care and perhaps factor in the loss of the ability to ever work again. This is where a life care plan comes in.
Hagens Berman fights for the rights of those facing a long recovery and for those who are forced to live their entire lives with an injury. Our team of nationally recognized personal injury lawyers doesn’t let guilty parties escape blame for causing the complete disruption of someone’s life. Hagens Berman thoroughly collects estimates of every cost a victim may face over a lifetime and then goes to work securing what’s fair from insurance companies.
HOW IS A LIFE CARE PLAN USED IN A WASHINGTON PERSONAL INJURY CASE?
A life care plan is an appraisal from medical experts and other authorities on the future medical care and support a personal injury victim will require over a lifetime. The costs for medical treatment and other support are estimated to provide a frame of reference on how much compensation an at-fault party should be held responsible for.
This goal of a life care plan is to project the needs of patients who have received a catastrophic injury that will affect the remaining years of their lives. A life care plan evaluation must allow for victims to have as much personal freedom as possible while they continue to cope with a permanent disability.
The comfort and care of a human life across decades is hard to put a price tag on; however, creating a life care plan is often necessary in personal injury cases. The report is a best attempt to assign a monetary value to these prolonged hardships. This figure will hopefully prevent a victim or a victim’s family from ever having to pay out-of-pocket for damages related to the injury.
WHAT GOES INTO A LIFE CARE PLAN REPORT?
To restore a victim’s life back to normal as much as is feasible, several factors are projected into the future. These are a few of the factors that contributors to a life care plan consider:
- Recuring Medical Expenses. This can include the likelihood of further surgeries, weekly rehabilitation therapy, and other monthly or yearly medical services.
- Custodial Care. The possibility of patients being unable to care for themselves and requiring daily monitoring and assistance, either in the home or in a nursing home.
- Medication. Prescription medication is astronomically expensive. Often, patients have to order several prescriptions and change prescriptions over the course of a lifetime.
- Psychological Care. This includes cost of routine counseling, as victims may have to cope with anxiety and depression in the years after an accident. They may also face a loss of enjoyment of life when having to give up certain hobbies and activities. For example, patients may not be able to participate in family outings and travel like before.
- Medical Equipment and Routine Replacement. The expected costs of wheelchairs, monitors and in-home patient-lifting devices are factored into this assessment.
- Home Upgrades. Renovations to the home give injured victims the chance to do things for themselves whenever possible. Wheelchair ramps and bathroom modifications are just some of the changes potentially needed.
- Travel Costs. Rides to doctor's appointments and trips to see out-of-state specialists. Compensation should be provided for these costs.
Victims often have to give up their old careers when dealing with a new status quo after a debilitating injury. When victims lose the ability to support their families, at-fault parties are called upon to provide additional support to protect the family’s financial future, based on a life care plan.
LIFE EXPECTANCY IN A LIFE CARE PLAN
A life care plan will also take any diminished life expectancy into account. A jury will have to consider how long someone in the victim’s condition lives on average in comparison to their pre-accident life expectancy.
A diminished life span should never be an excuse for an at-fault party to shortchange an injury victim of support. Expecting less support from an at-fault party due to an expected shorter life span leaves victims and families without the care they need when a victim defies the odds and continues to live well beyond the best guess of experts.
THE AT-FAULT PARTY’S DEFENSE STRATEGY
As a personal injury attorney collects the components of a life care plan for the injury victim, the defense for the at-fault parties will compile their own report. The two plans get compared and debated in court. Of course, the life care plan that the defense presents will focus on the low end of the scale when it comes to the care required for a victim.
Chipping away at an injured victim’s claim is a common tactic for insurance representatives and their lawyers who seek to save their companies money. They won’t hesitate to call the severity of the victim’s injuries into question or downplay the pain and emotional anguish suffered.
The personal injury lawyer working for the victim should refute each under-estimated hardship the guilty parties attempt to save money on. This rebuttal can include testimony from the victims themselves discussing the changes their lives have undergone and the challenges they’ll face in the years ahead.
HAGENS BERMAN PROTECTS THE RIGHTS OF WASHINGTON PERSONAL INJURY VICTIMS
Victims of serious accident likely feel vulnerable and alone as they start the recovery process, but Hagens Berman will diligently stand beside them as they seek justice.
Our legal team is tenacious in their litigation of at-fault parties who may think they can shed blame for the serious accidents they cause. Hagens Berman helps ensure negligent parties cannot leave injury victims to face a lifetime of medical challenges by themselves.
Our firm has the legal savvy and resources to work with medical professionals on a fair and comprehensive life care plan for victims and their families. Once this report is in place, Hagens Berman attorneys get to work securing the appropriate funds to support victims for the entirety of their lives.
Contact the attorneys at Hagens Berman in Seattle for a free and confidential case evaluation. We are happy to answer any questions you and your family may have and stand ready to take immediate action if you choose our team to represent your case.
