Leesburg, Loudoun and Fairfax County job accident lawyer Doug Landau is asked, “How long does it take to settle my workers comp case after I accept ?”
If you have a workers’ comp settlement that is over $250,000 OR you, the claimant, are currently a recipient of Medicare OR receiving SSDI benefits, it will be necessary to get CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) approval of the settlement. The reason is that Medicare wants to make sure payments for any treatment that should be covered by workers’ comp is not shifted to the responsibility of Medicare. In other words, the Federal Government does not want its programs to get stuck “holding the bag.”
How long does it take CMS to approve a workers’ comp settlement? Expect approximately 90 days for the turn-around once the settlement has been submitted to CMS. The Virginia Workers Compensation Commission has its own review process, which takes 3 to 8 weeks. From the time the completed and signed settlement paperwork is received by the Deputy Commissioner (judge), they take several weeks to review the file and make sure that the compromise settlement is in the best interests of the claimant.
The judges in Richmond do NOT simply rubber stamp and approve every single settlement that is submitted to them.This is for your, the injured worker’s protection. Because settlement are so important, the government requires that the insurance company have a lawyer sign the paperwork. Furthermore, an out of state lawyer who is not properly licensed in Virginia cannot sign Virginia settlement documents. If you or a loved one have questions about a workers compensation settlement, please contact our office at once.