Steven Chandler Jun 21, 2018 a 8:06 am PDT

While it's good to see there is some action by the Feds to resolve the MSA process, I believe this proposed process will serve principally to increase settlement costs substantially. Why? You lose the significant savings realized by annuitizing the MSA value. Here, Portman and Nelson's bill would have "a direct, one-time payment to Medicare". As an example, do you think Medicare will joyfully accept seed money now with much smaller payments annually until such time the claimant dies? I think not. The payor must pay all of it now (from the proceeds of the inflated settlement) without respect to its net present value or the value with interest compounding over time to meet its' obligations. Sorry, I can't chew this. I often save significant sums of money through structured settlements. If you can add a provision into your bill that discounts the lifetime cost similar to or greater than what an annuity can, then I'm ready to listen. If this passes as it is, the process may be a bit smoother (albeit the appeals process) but payors will be asked to dump money into Social Security with a blind trust that it'll be spent and invested wisely.