Life care plan costing applied to spinal cord injury litigation: methodology, deliverables, and case-specific considerations.
A spinal cord injury life care plan carries attendant care, wheelchair and equipment replacement cycles, supplies, home and vehicle modifications, and periodic hospitalization for complications, each with its own frequency, replacement interval, and cost category. The economist schedules each replacement at the interval the plan specifies, grows each item at the rate appropriate to its category, discounts the stream over the life expectancy the medical evidence supports, and presents home-based and facility-based care scenarios when the plan offers both. The report lists the replacement schedule so counsel can see how many cycles the horizon contains.
Reduction of a life care plan's line items to a single present value. The plan's items, frequencies, durations, and unit costs are carried forward with medical cost growth appropriate to each category, then discounted over the applicable life expectancy. Plan authorship stays with the life care planner; our role is the economic translation of the plan into a damages figure that reconciles with the plan and can be examined item by item.
The claim consists of lost earnings and earning capacity, measured as a total loss when the person cannot return to work or as the gap between the prior path and a sedentary or part-time alternative when they can; lost fringe benefits; the replacement value of household services across the person's life; and the present value of the life care plan, which for spinal cord injury is dominated by attendant care, wheelchair and equipment replacement cycles, supplies, home and vehicle modifications, and periodic hospitalization for complications. The drivers are the earnings and benefit history, the work-capacity opinions in the record, and a life care plan with frequencies and replacement intervals stated for each item.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing present value opinions, and revaluation when the plan is updated.
Each item is priced at current cost, scheduled at the interval the plan specifies, grown at the applicable rate to each replacement date, and discounted back to present value. The report lists the schedule item by item so the number of replacements within the horizon is visible.
Yes, when the plan presents both. Each scenario is valued on the same growth, discount, and life expectancy assumptions and the difference is shown item by item, so counsel can see which care items account for the gap between the two totals.
Request a consultation on Life Care Plan Costing or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.