Fish Hawk Trails Resident Volunteers at Give Kids the World Village

Gould & Lamb Director of Medicare Compliance and FishHawk Trails resident Rafael Gonzalez recently volunteered again at Give Kids the World Village in Orlando in conjunction with the Workers’ Compensation Institute’s 67th annual Educational Conference.

The Workers’ Compensation Institute (WCI) is a nonprofit educational organization that serves as a comprehensive resource to all workers’ compensation stakeholders, including employees, employers, insurance carriers, third-party administrators, attorneys, physicians, adjusters, claims managers and supervisors, just to name a few.

The WCI sponsors an annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference (WCEC) in Orlando in August. Now in its 67th year, the conference brings together workers’ compensation professionals from across the country for networking and information sharing, and provides an opportunity for vendors to display their products and services.

For years, the WCI has sponsored scholarships for children of injured workers who, because of a workplace injury to a parent or guardian, might be prevented from further training or education because of financial reasons. In addition to this long-term commitment, last year WCI adopted the Give Kids the World Village as the special project for the conference.

Give Kids the World Village opened in 1989 to provide memorable, magical, cost-free experiences to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Today the village is a 70-acre resort complete with more than 140 Villa accommodations, entertainment attractions, whimsical venues and fun-filled activities specifically designed for children with special needs. With the help of many generous individuals, corporations and partnering wish-granting organizations, Give Kids the World Village has welcomed more than 115,000 families from all 50 states and more than 70 countries.

Gould & Lamb, LLC is the nation’s largest Medicare Secondary Payer compliance resource for Mandatory Insurer Reporting, Conditional Payment Resolution, and Medicare Set Asides, and MSA Professional Administration.

Since 2001, Gould & Lamb has completed close to 100,000 Medicare Set Asides and has negotiated more than 60,000 Conditional Payment liens.

Gould & Lamb’s clients include national and international insurance companies, including Lloyd’s of London. It is currently the vendor of choice for more than 20 of the top 25 national insurance carriers and is on the panel or an exclusive Medicare Secondary Payer services provider for most third-party administrators and self-insured entities in the U.S.

Longtime Fish Hawk Trails resident Rafael Gonzalez is director of Medicare Compliance at Gould and Lamb. Over the last 25 years, Gonzalez has been instrumental in growing the WCI conference by putting together substantive programs dealing with Permanent Total Disability, Social Security Disability, WC/SS Offset, Medicare and Medicaid, and Medicare Secondary Payer issues.

In addition to speaking about current trends in Workers' Compensation Medicare Set Asides and Liability Medicare Set Asides at this year’s conference, Gonzalez again volunteered at Give Kids the World Village.

On behalf of Gould & Lamb, Gonzalez joined 75 other volunteers from WCI on Saturday, Aug. 18, assisting children with life-threatening illnesses and their families have fun while attending Give Kids the World Village's week-long program. He transported special needs kids and their families to the different activities and programs available within the 70-acre village. As a result, Gonzalez had the opportunity to meet and assist several special-needs families from Texas, New York, Michigan and England.

For further information, contact Gonzalez at 813-967-7598 or rgonz@tampabay.rr.com