When Life Expectancy Equals Dollars

    When calculating future damages, whether they be medical specials, lost earnings/earning/potential or general damages, the plaintiff’s life expectancy is a necessary figure to use in any equation. In California, the life expectancy tables found in CACI are the standard measure, these tables were issued in 2015 in the National Vital Statistic Reports and the date set is from 2011.

CMS just announced that on October 12, 2019, CMS will start using the mortality tables issued in National Vital Statistics Reports on May 7, 2019, which are based on the data set from 2016. Being more accurate, life care planners and trial courts should gravitate to the new data set. The new data should increase the potential recoverable damages by some measure. The difference can be material. For instance, a 61-62-year-old male had a LE of 20.8 years under the 2011 data and a LE of 22.5 using the 2016 data set. 

CMS’s use of the new mortality data will first impact its review of Medicare Set Asides in workers’ compensation matters; because of CMS’s rounding procedures, the impact on future care calculations will not be as significant as it is in liability cases.

We have started using the new data set in evaluating Medicare Set Aside issues.  We know the “rules” governing liability set asides are coming. The burden on plaintiffs and their counsels will remain to “act reasonably” to protect Medicare’s interest. Making sure we calculate future medical specials using the mortality tables adopted by CMS helps avoid disputes over the “numbers” and allows us to focus on the substantive issues to help assure the settlement process protects both the plaintiff and counsel going forward. 

The National Vital Statistics Reports Vol. 68 No. 4 can be found at:

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_04-508.pdf

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