Opinion ID: 2234856
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: terms of 1996 award

Text: Having determined that the compensation court was authorized to award payment of future medical expenses based upon a stipulation or appropriate evidence, we must finally determine whether that authority was exercised by the compensation court in this case when it entered the 1996 award. If it was not, then Foote's claim would be barred as an attempt to readjust a final award of compensation. See § 48-140. As stated above, the 1996 award was entered pursuant to stipulation, and both the stipulation and the award stated that the Defendants shall still be liable to pay to or on behalf of the Plaintiff all reasonable and necessary medical expenses resulting from said injuries. The trial court in this case determined that the award was not an award of future medical benefits, stating that the intent of the parties in agreeing to such provision in a stipulated award was not to waive any future benefit that the particular party may be entitled to, but only to [e]nsure payment of medical expenses due and owing on the date of the award or in the future subject to any legal right a party may possess now or in the future. If the Court were to accept the plaintiff's argument that ... the award of May 21, 1996 tolls the statute of limitations, then there would be no period of time in which the statute of limitations could run. The Court finds that was not the parties' agreement or intent. The trial court's concern about the statute of limitations is misplaced, however, as § 48-137 does not operate to bar the enforcement of a validly entered final award of compensation. Moreover, the language of the stipulation does not support the construction placed upon it by the trial court. The parties stipulated that the appellees would be liable for all reasonable and necessary medical expenses resulting from said injuries. Neither the stipulation nor the order places any temporal limitation on when such medical expenses were to be incurred. A stipulated award may provide that the employer has liability for future medical treatment. Price v. W.C.A.B., 10 Cal.App.4th 959, 12 Cal. Rptr.2d 831 (1992). The construction of a stipulation is a question of law, and we conclude that the stipulation at issue in this case subjected the appellees to liability for all reasonable and necessary medical expenses resulting from Foote's injuries, whether they were due and owing at the time of the award or whether they are incurred in the future. Accordingly, we conclude that Foote's claim in the instant case is not barred because he is simply asking the compensation court to exercise its continuing jurisdiction over medical benefits to enforce the terms of its 1996 award. See § 48-120(1) (stating that liability for medical expenses is subject to the approval of and regulation by the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court). See, also, Barnes v. W.C.A.B., 23 Cal.4th 679, 2 P.3d 1180, 97 Cal.Rptr.2d 638 (2000) (noting distinction between rescinding and enforcing award and holding that workers' compensation board retained jurisdiction over award of future medical benefits); St. Clair v. County of Grant, 110 N.M. 543, 797 P.2d 993 (N.M.App.1990) (holding that court had continuing jurisdiction to enforce judgment requiring payment of future medical expenses).