Payouts to NFL Players with Mild Dementia Clarified // NY Times

Much remains unknown about the proposed settlement in the NFL Concussion Litigation.  The agreement has not been filed, but there is some information online.  See plaintiffs steering committee website. - GWC

Payouts to NFL Players with Mild Dementia Clarified  NY Times
by Ken Belson

A persistent criticism of the $765 million settlement the N.F.L. agreed to in August is that only retired players in the worst health will receive payouts.
Under the terms of the settlement, the finer points of which are still being worked out, former players with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (often known as A.L.S. or Lou Gehrig’s disease), Parkinson’s disease or other serious conditions could receive up to $5 million
But for the past four months, lawyers for the N.F.L. and lawyers for the more than 4,500 former players who sued the league, claiming it deliberately hid information from them about the dangers of concussions, have been sorting out another category that would allow retirees with mild dementia to be compensated as well.
According to the plan announced in August, retirees who receive a diagnosis of full-blown dementia will be eligible for payments of up to $3 million. Retired players will receive less than the maximum if they played fewer than five seasons, are of a certain age, had a stroke, or sustained head trauma unrelated to football (in a car accident, for instance).
The extra category, which was part of the original agreement but had not been fleshed out when the settlement was announced, would allow retired players who have mild dementia to receive up to $1.5 million with the understanding that if they developed full-blown dementia, they could receive as much as $1.5 million more, for a maximum total of $3 million.