Life care plan vs. medical cost projection.
Two instruments, one job: putting a defensible number on future medical care. Here's how to pick the right one for your case — from a firm that prepares both.
The one-paragraph answer
A life care plan is the comprehensive instrument: evaluation-based, every category of lifetime care, litigation-grade sourcing, built to survive expert deposition and trial. A medical cost projection is the abbreviated one: records-only, focused on future medical costs, delivered in days rather than weeks at a fraction of the fee — built for demand letters, mediation, and early resolution.
Neither is "better." Catastrophic, contested cases need the plan. Earlier, smaller, or deadline-driven matters are often best served by the projection — and over-buying wastes both fee and time.
Side by side
| Life Care Plan | Medical Cost Projection | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | All lifetime care: medical, therapy, equipment, medications, attendant care, home modifications | Future medical costs, typically from recent treatment records |
| Evaluation | In-person or tele-evaluation (typically 3–4 hours) | Records-only — no evaluation |
| Timeline | 4–6 weeks (30–50 expert hours) | Days to ~2 weeks |
| Typical fee | $2,500–$10,000+ (testimony separate) | A few hundred (template) to a few thousand (physician-signed) |
| Built for | Expert disclosure, deposition, trial | Demand letters, mediation, reserves, early settlement |
| Best fit | Catastrophic injury; contested future damages | Non-catastrophic; pre-litigation; tight budget or deadline |
The decision framework
Four questions settle it:
Catastrophic or permanent multi-system injury → plan. Finite treatment horizon → projection.
If the number faces an opposing expert at deposition, it needs the full plan behind it. If it needs to be credible in a demand or mediation, the projection carries.
Pre-suit or early → projection now, escalate later if needed. Past expert-disclosure planning → the plan, engaged with 4–6 weeks of runway.
A mid-five-figure case rarely justifies a five-figure expert spend. Match the instrument to the damages at stake.
The escalation path matters more than the initial choice: a physician-signed projection by the expert who would author the full plan converts cleanly if the case grows teeth. Template projections from volume vendors don't — which is the hidden cost of the cheapest option.
Not sure which your case needs?
Tell us the case — we'll recommend the right instrument, honestly.