A change is coming in the NFL’s $1 billion concussion settlement as retired Black players can attempt retesting or have their claims rescored.
A judge approved a revised plan that opened up the former players to compensation opportunities on Friday.
Under a revised plan, the players have fought to eliminate racial bias in the testing and payout formula for concussion-related mental illness.
NFL proposes fix to Race-norming in concussion settlement the NFL has proposed changes to the $ 1 billion concussion settlement after an outcry over test score adjustments known as race-norming were black x NFL players not given equal benefits medically or financially as whites pic.twitter.com/bxkxoNi5R7
— SOHOOD NEWS 24-7 🧨🔥🔥🔥 (@7Sohood) October 21, 2021
Race-Norming
Thousands of retired NFL players have agreed with the league to end race-based adjustments in dementia testing.
The league has been in hot water over the alleged “race-norming” in dementia testing. The practice assumes that Black people start at a lower level of cognition, meaning their tests for signs of mental decline have to show lower scores than those of whites for Blacks to be assessed as suffering from impairment. The former players’ claims of mental health issues that turned them away from the negotiating table last year can now potentially be reversed.
According to reports, only 3 in 10 dementia claims have been paid to date by the NFL. The other one-third rejected, while the remainder hovers in uncertainty as the claims process is complicated and layered through administration, audits, medical and legal procedures.
Federal court judge Anita Brody approved the race norming changes to the NFL concussion settlement, eliminating the practice of considering race in the neurology exams that determined payouts
— Daniel Kaplan (@KaplanSportsBiz) March 4, 2022
Check The Score
The NFL uses a binary scoring system for dementia testing. Developed by neurologists in the 1990s, the system uses a different set of rules for Black people, supposedly as an initial unsophisticated method to factor the social and economic factors of the patient.
The NFL faces a potential of over $100 million or more to the NFL’s expenses to pay through its concussion fund. According to reports, dementia awards average about $600,000 currently.
About $800 million has been paid out thus far, with half of the payouts going to dementia claims.
In addition, the settlement will provide financial awards to ex-players with illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease).
2/2-which ultimately led to the NFL committing to end race-norming practices. Despite this progress, significant disparities in the delivery of healthcare remain. We, as a firm, are committed to helping identify & eradicate such practices. #BHM2022 #healthandwellness pic.twitter.com/0yjeAr0FfW
— Zuckerman Spaeder LLP (@ZS_Law) February 28, 2022
What About CTE?
However, the settlement does not cover the hot-button health issue in the NFL, which is undoubtedly CTE. Payouts are only available to families of men diagnosed with it posthumously — a definitive CTE diagnosis can be made only after death — before April 2015, a deadline set to avoid incentivizing suicides.
The NFL is now addressing use of “race-norming.” According to reports, doctors have reported that they have been coerced into race-norming such players’ cognitive evaluation scores.
According to reports, over 3,300 former players or family members seek payouts for their respective brain injuries, which they feel are connected to their playing days.
More than 2,000 former NFL players are asking for an award for their dementia, which is in varying stages of severity.
Black By Popular Demand
The NFL has not admitted any wrongdoing. However, a new testing formula will be developed with input from experts hired by both the player’s counsel and the NFL.
The new decision follows months of closed-door negotiations between the NFL, class counsel for the retired players, and lawyers for two Black players.
The vast majority of the league’s players are Black. Some 70 percent of the active players and more than 60 percent of the living retirees are African-American; adjusting to the race-based concussion assessments is estimated to be costly for the NFL.
Unfortunately, a racial breakdown of payouts has never been made public, and there is no indication it ever will. As the NFL addresses its many discrepancies on the racial front, this latest development is a bread crumb in the trail leading to true diversity and inclusion.
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