You could suffer a serious injury on a Kentucky interstate, in the workplace, or at a business. If someone’s mistake caused you to get hurt, you deserve financial support to provide for your recovery.
Hospital bills and invoices are easy to add up, but what if your injury was severe and required care long after an insurance settlement was complete? How would you total up the cost of perhaps a lifetime of medical care ahead?
It might be hard to imagine such figures, but in personal injury law, some guidelines have been set for victims facing long-term issues from an accident injury. These estimates, called life care plans, go over every possible scenario you may face and try to attach a monetary amount to what you’ll experience.
What is a Life Care Plan in a Personal Injury Case in Kentucky?
A “life care plan” is an evaluation prepared by medical experts and collected by a personal injury attorney, estimating the medical care and the costs of that care for a victim dealing with a lifelong injury. This report is used to help determine the level of support victims will need in the future and how much compensation they should be expecting from the individuals and entities who caused their injuries.
A life care plan also considers the emotional hardships victims experience as they learn to live with a debilitating injury. This factors in the changes in relationships with family and friends and the potential loss of enjoyment of life when victims can’t participate or practice their hobbies and interests due to their injuries.
One could never put a price on health and wellbeing and the life of a human being. But for those who must sort out personal injury cases, it’s sometimes necessary to estimate the monetary support required for a person to live a reasonably comfortable life with a long-term injury or permanent disability.
What Is Examined in a Life Care Plan Report?
After an accident, it should be the goal of everyone involved to allow injured victims to return to their normal, everyday routine as much as possible. Victims should be enabled to enjoy as much personal freedom as they can.
To enable financial and physical freedom, several factors will have to be projected into the future. These are a few of the things the preparers of a life care plan consider:
- Healthcare expenses expected to be incurred in the future. Including the possibility of surgeries, routine physical therapy, custodial care, and other costs.
- The cost of prescription medication.
- The potential need for nursing home and home care.
- The purchase and routine maintenance or replacement of medical equipment. Wheelchairs, monitors, and prosthetics are all included in this assessment.
- Psychological care including the cost of routine counseling. Victims can need help coping with anxiety and depression while learning to live with a disability.
- Home upgrades. Making a residence more accessible to injury victims and allowing them to do as much for themselves as possible. Wheelchair ramps and bedroom and bathroom modifications are just some of the changes possibly needed.
- Transportation Costs.
- Career Services. An injury may make it impossible for a victim to return to his or her previous job. The cost of career training, college courses, and job-finding services could factor into a life care plan.
How is a Life Care Plan Assembled?
All of these factors are combined into a unified recommendation for your future care. Your personal injury attorney would make sure your life care plan calls upon several sources for an accurate view of what lies ahead.
Your doctors, surgeons, and physical therapists would contribute their analysis on your current needs and what your needs will be in the future. Your therapist or mental health professionals would make recommendations on your treatment routine in the years to come.
Home contractors would testify to the costs of renovating your home for your benefit. Medical suppliers would input the costs of the equipment you’ll need over a lifetime. Other expert witnesses would be used to help round out a full idea of what to expect.
The Defendant’s Life Care Plan Assessment
Lawyers for the at-fault party and insurance companies involved in your accident will likely be compiling their own life care plan estimates and figures. They’ll be working to reduce the amount of support they’ll have to pay you.
Your Life Care Plan proposal and the defendant’s life care plan proposal will be brought together. Your personal injury attorney will be negotiating on each key point on where the plans differ. He or she will be fighting to make sure you have what you need and that guilty parties in your accident aren’t allowed to ignore their responsibilities to you.
How Does Life Expectancy Figure into a Life Care Plan?
Your life expectancy will be a major factor in the support you are likely to earn. A jury will have to consider your life expectancy before the accident and what your life expectancy is now, after such a traumatic event.
You should never have to forfeit compensation because of a diminished life expectancy caused by an at-fault party. Your personal injury attorney will be holding those responsible for your accident liable for every year their actions may have taken from you.
Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer Serving Kentucky Victims
After suffering a devastating injury, your future health and wellbeing are too important to leave to chance. The person or entity who caused your accident will have lawyers and insurance adjusters all trying to rob you of compensation now and down the road.
Make absolutely sure you have the right legal expert on your side every step of the way as you seek to earn what’s fair for what you’ve been through and what you’ll experience in the years to come.
The attorneys at Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, have that knowledge and a combined 100 years of experience in helping clients recover the support they need to rebuild their lives. To discuss your case in a free consultation contact Kaufman & Stigger, PLLC, today.
