DWC Drops Set-Aside Approval Requirement for Settlements

By Michael Whiteley, Eastern Bureau ChiefThe New Jersey Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) will no longer require that parties get federal approval of Medicare set-asides before judges sign off on lump-sum settlements.DWC also dropped a requirement last week that settling parties use standard division language to address conditional payments Medicare already has made toward workers' injuries.DWC Chief Judge Peter Calderone said he ordered the changes, which took effect on Thursday, in response to a brief by the U.S. Justice Department in a pending federal court case on behalf of t...