Health Insurance

The debate over health care rages on. What exactly is being proposed, how will it work, who will implement and supervise it, how much will it cost? Has anyone been able to answer these basic questions? After spending over an hour on the phone trying to get an answer from Medicare on how much they are claiming from my client, and then spending the next several months trying to get it finalized, I am concerned about any additional government run health care. If you have an injury claim and have any health insurance (group, medicare, medicaid, etc.) you may have to pay them back any money they paid on your medical care. The terms you may hear are subrogation or lien. What it generally means is they get their money back from any recovery you get from the party that injured you. What this means to you is that you should not base your settlement on your co-pays or out of pocket only. Submit the entire amount of your medical expenses to the insurance company, not just the co-pays. That way when your health insurance asks for their money back you will be ok.

Jury Duty

Jury duty can be a pain. You have to go down to the courthouse, verify your paperwork and then sit around for hours waiting to be called (and hoping you're not). If you are called you get herded over to some courtroom where you are asked a bunch of questions about yourself and your beliefs (you try to keep a low profile so no one asks you questions) and then hopefully you will be excused and not have to serve. Sound familiar? A couple of friends (non lawyers) and I discussed this very topic this morning. They were upset with the amount of wasted time in the process and in some cases the attitude of the lawyers. I have been on the other side where we have waited for days to get a jury panel because not enough people showed up to serve. How can we make the process more streamlined, more pleasant and enjoyable? If you have gone to jury duty post a comment and let me know your experience good, bad or indifferent and any suggestions you have to make it better.

Where is my party?

Politics are something that is generally avoided in legal blogs so as not to offend anyone, but sometimes not saying anything is more offensive. Republican or Democrat does it really matter. Both parties are spending us into bankruptcy and blame the other. They talk about representing the people and not special interest, but who are these "people" because it is not anyone I know. One claims they want free market to decide whether a company succeeds or not, but then reward certain companies with bids, bails out certain companies while allowing others to go under and institute legal "reform" to protect others when they injure someone or cause economic harm. Our soldiers are getting killed taking showers due to faulty wiring, and their families can not hold the company responsible. The other party is claiming that they will provide health care "reform" and virtually no one has even read the bill which will change our options and choices of medical care. I was raised and believe that you do what is right and if you mess up, you take responsibility and try to make it right. Work hard and help others who need help. I believe that and want a party who believes it as well. I hear people say neither party is perfect, that is true, but I would settle for honest. My party seems to have disappeared. If you happen to find it let me know.

Medical Authorization - Don't Sign it.

When you are involved in a car crash the insurance company for the other driver will normally ask you to sign a medical authorization to allow them to gather all your medical bills and records to help evaluate the case for settlement. DO NOT SIGN IT. They do need to get the records and bills to allow them to evaluate the claim and you should provide those items to the insurance company, but do it yourself. Get the actual bills and medical records, delete your social security number and any other private and non-related information and mail them to the company. I know you are asking, but if they will do it why should I go to all the trouble. The reason is because the authorization they will ask you to sign will almost always not be limited to the time frame after the crash and will allow them to speak to your doctors directly. Why would you want your personal information which has nothing to do with the crash discussed and turned over to the insurance company? You can prevent it by just getting the relevant information yourself and providing it to the insurance company. They get what they need, you do not have your entire medical history from birth forward and they should be able to evaluate the case for settlement. If they continue to demand you produce records prior to the wreck you may as well prepare for a lawsuit, because they are more interested in defending the case than in evaluating it for settlement.