Thomas Spratt has joined Protocols LLC as Senior Vice President – Technical Operations.  In this capacity, he will be responsible for the firm’s claims management consulting group.

Spratt comes to Protocols^® with more than 40 years’ experience in the insurance industry, including 15 years as manager of the claims examining unit of Liberty Mutual.  His expertise spans both state and federal jurisdictions for employers’ liability and workers’ compensation.

At Liberty Mutual, Spratt developed a ground-breaking and widely emulated Medicare set-aside compliance program.  He has spoken on this subject at numerous national insurance industry conferences.

Spratt has a long record of active involvement in the insurance industry, joining and serving on committees of the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCIAA) and the UWC – Strategic Services on Unemployment & Workers’ Compensation.

Spratt holds an undergraduate degree in economics and business from St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.  He will serve national clients from the firm’s northeast office in Manchester, N.H.

Please contact Robert Sagrillo for further information.

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Protocols is pleased to announce its Medicare set-aside (“MSA”) guarantee. At the request of our clients, we have designed the Protocols^® MSA guarantee to allow parties to immediately close their files upon settlement without having to wait for CMS approval of the MSA. After settlement, Protocols^® will take care of the rest.

What is the Protocols^® MSA Guarantee?

Protocols^® will submit the proposed MSA for CMS approval. Should the proposed MSA be disapproved by CMS, Protocols^® will fund the shortfall or challenge CMS, in which case Protocols^® will defend, indemnify and hold the client harmless from CMS. The Protocols^® MSA guarantee may be requested at any time after completion of an MSA recommendation - even after submitting for CMS approval. For those cases that do not meet CMS review thresholds or for which the parties otherwise chose not to submit the MSA for CMS approval, the guarantee term is limited to three years from the date of funding of the MSA.

What Cases are Eligible for the Protocols^® MSA Guarantee?

The Protocols^® MSA guarantee is available to our clients for any MSA funded in accordance with our MSA recommendation using the life expectancy approach. It is not available for MSAs calculated using the percentage approach or zero dollar MSAs.

How Much does the Protocols^® MSA Guarantee Cost?

Protocols^® charges a funding fee of 3% of the projected MSA. The fee must be paid upon funding of the MSA.

Please contact Amy Ettinger for further information.

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On May 4, 2006, Representative Clay Shaw of Florida introduced H.R. 5309, legislation to significantly change the Medicare Secondary Payer ("MSP") Act.  (Click here to see our May 2006 newsletter which detailed the proposed legislation.)

Our Staff Spotlight intends to help our clients get to know the people behind Protocols.  This month's spotlight focuses on Jessica Bloom, one of Protocols' newest analysts.  Jessica grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado and graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor degree in social work.  She then went on to earn her MSW from Colorado State University.  In her spare time, Jessica likes to knit, design greeting cards, read, and attend live performances at the theatre.  She enjoys learning new things and just finished taking her first cooking class.

Please contact Jessica Bloom for further information.

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