Future medical expenses can be recovered in a Georgia personal injury case where an injury is shown to require ongoing or future care. These damages address anticipated costs rather than bills already paid.
They cover care still to come. Future medical damages compensate the cost of treatment the injured person is expected to need going forward as a result of the injury. A spinal injury expected to require years of therapy and further surgery is the kind of case they address.
They rest on evidence of future need. Recovery depends on proof that the care will be needed and what it will likely cost, generally through expert testimony. The further out the projection reaches, the more its quality governs what can be recovered.
They differ from past expenses. Unlike bills already incurred, future medical damages address costs not yet paid, which calls for projection rather than a tally of receipts. That forward-looking character sets them apart.
The projection invites scrutiny. Because the figure rests on a prediction rather than a paid bill, the testimony supporting it carries particular weight, and a claim for decades of future care draws a closer look than one for a short, well-defined course of treatment.
Recovering future medical expenses comes down to the care anticipated, the evidence supporting that projection, and how it differs from bills already paid.