Trusted Attorneys | Trusted Advisors

Overview

Amy Bilton (she/her) serves as Vice President at Nyhan and is a nationally recognized Workers’ Compensation Defense and Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) attorney.

Amy operates across industries and in all levels of insurance, including uninsured, insured, self-insured, and excess insurance, to carefully balance the needs of each party and each client’s unique motivations. Utilizing her experience in the process of initial investigations, tracking where the liability in the case begins and ends, and through post-settlement actions, she considers the idiosyncrasies of each case to ensure all significant details are uncovered.

As a Fellow with the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Chairperson of the International Commission on Healthcare Certification’s Medicare Set-Aside Consultant Certification and instructor for the Certified Medicare Secondary Payer Professional and Fellow classes, Amy has the knowledge to provide full-service counsel covering workers’​ compensation defense, MSP, and all types of MSP compliance. Amy builds upon her thorough workers’ compensation trial practice to provide her clients with effective solutions to unique challenges.

Understanding that no two MSP or workers’ compensation cases are alike, Amy tailors her approach to her client’s specific needs, keeping in mind both the facts and the parties involved to ensure her clients pay only what they owe. Her knowledge allows her to handle each case with care, managing catastrophic claims and issues with novel medical issues fraught with challenging circumstances and potential media exposure.

Outside of her legal practice, Amy is a board member of Habitat for Humanity Chicago and serves as a Committee Co-Chair and Team Leader for the annual Women Build. She approaches her activism with the mindset that everyone has a right to a decent place to live and that promoting generational wealth among families builds a better world for us all. Additionally, she is the Treasurer and Past President of the Commercial Park Advisory Council, a fundraising group that provides programming and a safe place for youth, adults, and at-risk individuals to gather and participate in learning opportunities.

Professional Organizations

  • Certified Medicare Secondary Payer Professional, Fellow (CMSP-F), 2017 to present
  • National Medicare Secondary Payer Network (Formerly NAMSAP)
    • Co-chair of the Annual Educational Conference Committee
    • Past President
    • Past Co-chair of Evidence Based Medicine Committee
    • Past chair of Legal Committee
  • International Commission on Healthcare Certification
    • Medicare Set-Aside Consultant Certified (MSCC) Board of Commissioners Chairperson
  • Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission
    • Medical Fee Advisory Board Member
  • Commercial Park Advisory Council
    • Treasurer
    • Past President
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • Chicago Bar Association
  • Workers’ Compensation Lawyers Association
  • California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation
  • National Council of Self-Insurers

Community Involvement

  • Commercial Park Advisory Council
    • Treasurer
    • Past President
  • Habitat for Humanity Chicago
    • Vice President and Board member
    • Women Build Committee Co-Chair and Team Leader

Presentations

  • “Where Our Words Don’t Match,” The National Medicare Secondary Payer Network Annual Conference, 2023
  • “Case Law Update,” Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Judicial Training, 2022
  • “No Dice: Zero MSAs,” The National Medicare Secondary Payer Network Annual Conference, 2022
  • “Alternatives to Medicare Set-Asides to Assure Medicare’s Future Interests,” Medicare Secondary Payer Master Class, RISE, 2022
  • “Introduction to Medicare Secondary Payer Conditional Payments,” RISE, 2021
  • “Navigating the Long Road of Medicare Secondary Payer Compliance,” Wisconsin Workers’ Compensation Forum, 2021
  • “Surviving Surgical Pricing and Major Medical Centers,” National Medicare Secondary Payer Network, 2021
  • “How COVID Changed the Workers’ Compensation Game,” CLM, 2021
  • “WCRC Documentation and Evidence,” The National Medicare Secondary Payer Network Annual Educational Conference, 2020
  • “COVID-19 2020: What We Know and What We Need to Know,” Illinois Self-Insurers Association, 2020
  • “Insurance Impact on Workers’ Compensation Claims,” Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Judicial Training, 2020
  • “Initial Intake to Final Settlement – A Blueprint for Your Workers’ Compensation Catastrophic Claim,” CLM, 2019
  • “Establishing a Successful Non-CMS Submission Program and Using State Workers’ Compensation Laws to Reduce Medicare Set-Asides and MSP Liability,” National Council of Self-Insurers, 2019
  • “Opioids in the MSA, Part III Webinar, National Alliance of Medicare Set-Aside Professionals,” 2018
  • “Agency Keynote: Opioids,” National Alliance of Medicare Set-Aside Professionals, 2018
  • “Legal Aspects of Opioids in Workers’ Compensation Cases,” Illinois Chamber of Commerce, 2018
  • “Opioids and Illinois Workers’ Compensation,” Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission Judicial Training, 2018
  • “NAMSAP Update,” National Council of Self-Insurers, 2018
  • Instructor, “Certified Medicare Secondary Payer – Fellow Program,” 2017-2018

News

 

Representative Matters

  • Represented an Illinois healthcare provider in a workers’ compensation claim involving claims for benefits of over $1.5 million. Through attention to detail and investigation, we were able to secure a finding from both the Arbitrator and Commission that Petitioner concealed a pre-existing condition, resulting in a net back to the employer of over $250,000.
  • Represented a Chicagoland machining company in a claim where an injured worker sought an award for over four years of TTD benefits, over $100,000 in past medical bills, a prospective 5-level lumbar fusion, and a loss of vocation. While exposure topped $200,000, Amy successfully argued the claimant’s allegations of pain over years were not credible, securing an award of only $35,000 for limited treatment and lost time associated with strain-type injuries.
  • Represented an Illinois mechanical services company where the Petitioner was found on a Saturday morning entrapped in a company vehicle, necessitating the amputation of both lower extremities. Exposure for statutory permanent and total disability, medical, and TTD benefits easily topped $2.5 million. As a result of tenacious investigation and workup of an intoxication defense, Amy successfully negotiated resolution of the claim for $75,000.