A work comp settlement, once signed off by the judge is a matter of public record, isn't it? That being said~ is the fact that there has been a judgement, shared with other govt. agencies ? In other words, are they automatically notified thru some computer linked system?
What these essentially do is REQUIRE the payee of a settlement to repay an insurer for the costs the insurers paid for care unless settlement specifically excludes (like $ is for future costs). MediCARE has a secondary payer clause. Some traditional health insurers do also. Medicaid well that’s going to depend if your state laws require it.
What should have happeed is that if there was a lawsuit filed and judgement / settlement done; then a good atty places the funds into what is essentially like an escrow account to pay for any secondaries; then once cleared (period of time for others to come forward based on state laws) then final settlement paid to client.
There was a post a few months back from someone who’s exhubs was in car accident which paid a good bit of $; daughter was his dpoa & daughter spent $ both on dads needs but also on herself. $ totally gone within a year. Daughter had other issues as well.... anyways Medicare was sending demand for repayment letters to Mrs Ex address for daughter. Mom was worried as to how it would affect all. It seemed to take about a year & 1/2 for settlement to surface. Probably as someone’s SS# (the dads) would be reported within the payout paperwork by insurance co. and filed for the tax year paid; then that info dovetails into other databases. Just keystrokes to find.
Really it will surface eventually.
And folks wonder why cryptocurrencies are so popular......