USA Today is reporting that BP has started paying medical claimants. According to an article on USAtoday.com, BP has paid 100 of approximately 10,000 medical claims filed by those residents and workers who were affected by the Spill back in 2010.
Workers and Residents can make BP medical claims to recover costs associated with treatment for ailments caused by exposure to oil debris and toxins post Spill. Payments for these claims should begin to be dispersed regularly over the next two to three months.
According to Matt Garretson, the administrator appointed by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to process and pay medical claims, “There’s about 800 cases already ready for payment and of those, approximately 100 have cleared and we’re working every day to clear the balance.”
The Medical Settlement was approved in court in January 2013, and the Claims Administrator began processing claims in February 2014.
“The payments range from about $900 with a simple signed declaration and proof that the claimant worked or lived on oiled coastline, to more than $60,000 for well-documented chronic injuries that required hospitalization.”
A team of 300 BP medical claims adjusters and processors are working together to process the claims. Garretson reports that “the team has denied more than 2,600 claims so far and has had to ask for more documentation from around 4,000 claimants.”
Louisiana offshore injury lawyers at Lambert Zainey has been handling serious maritime accidents in Louisiana and throughout the Gulf Coast region for over 35 years.