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Archive for the ‘Legal Insurance’ Category

In the Unites States, car accidents have become one of the biggest killers of young people. Every day we can see on news how people between ages of 1 to 35 die in a car collision. In a year, car accidents can cause around 2.8 million injures, a big percentage of them with permanent injuries. It is estimated that 36,000 people lose their lives in car accidents every year in the United States. One mayor cause of these car accidents is the combination of alcohol and driving. Some other causes are falling asleep while driving, forgetting to use seatbelts, getting distracted, etc.

Driving drunk is a big and serious offense against law. In these cases, cars are considered as weapons. When someone is killed or injured by a drunk driver, this driver is punished and charged as if she or he has attacked the victim with a gun. A driver who killed a person while driving drunk can be taken to prison for murder. Young people are the most inclined to commit this kind of fault because they do not realize the magnitude of the consequences.

If one day, you or someone near you like a member of your family or a friend is involved in a car accident, it is really important to look for legal counsel. Never accept any kind of responsibility without talking to a lawyer before.

Apologizing at the moment of the accident can been seen good, but sometimes it can make you be seen as guilty. A lawyer can provide all the guidance you need for paperwork and court proceedings.

New Medicare Law and how it affects the Plaintiffs Bar

If you primarily practice personal injury law then you need to be aware of the new Medicare reporting law otherwise you and your client will not see the money from your recent settlements.

The Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (MMSEA) has now gone into effect as of January 1, 2010 and has brought with it new issues for Plaintiffs and their attorneys. It is important to be aware of these changes as they can now seriously delay your settlements.

The amendments, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1395 y(b)(8), now require liability insurers (which are defined to include self-insured entities) to report payments related to bodily injuries incurred by Medicare beneficiaries. It also requires that the Medicare beneficiary or “other party,” defined by the regulations as including the entity making the payment, must reimburse Medicare within 60 days of the payment or be subjected to a $1,000 a day fine along with interest. The regulations further provide that if Medicare is not reimbursed within 60 days the primary payer must reimburse Medicare even though it has already reimbursed the beneficiary or other party.

This means that an insurance company settling a claim may be liable for paying the Medicare lien, even after paying the plaintiff, if the Plaintiff does not reimburse Medicare within 60 days of the date of payment. So now more than ever insurance company adjusters and their attorneys are making sure that Plaintiff’s attorneys are resolving Medicare liens before they will issue payment of any settlement check.

If you have dealt with Medicare in the past you know the problems inherent in notifying them of your claim and trying to resolve your client’s lien. If you have not dealt with Medicare before you need to seriously consider co-counseling with an attorney experienced in the area.

Whenever Medicare provides a lien they simply provide a search from the date of the accident through the date of the request. This means that the lien will include charges that are not related to your client’s accident that you will have to dispute. Unfortunately, Medicare will not provide your final lien amount until 10 days after they are notified that the case has settled. Further problems arise because it takes Medicare in excess of 45 days to evaluate and remove unrelated charges from their lien so even if a plaintiff’s attorney puts Medicare on notice at the inception of a claim and provides the information necessary for Medicare’s contractors to evaluate the claim, the contractor will not issue a final demand letter setting forth Medicare’s entitlement until notified of the settlement. This means that your client’s lien amount can change at any time and you will have to pay Medicare whatever they are claiming or your client will be responsible for late fees and fines. Medicare’s position is that it should receive its full demand entitlement pending resolution of such issues.

This is now causing insurance companies to be directly involved in the Plaintiff’s negotiations with Medicare. Insurance companies and their attorneys will now want to include Medicare on any settlement checks as an essential element of any proposed settlement despite the fact that there is nothing in the current statute or implementing regulations requiring that payment be directed to Medicare or CMS.

So how do we avoid this?

Make sure to put Medicare on notice at the inception of a claim and negotiate their lien before settling your case. This is the only way to avoid significant delays at the end of the case when the Plaintiff is waiting on their money. If you do not know how to handle a Medicare lien then be sure to review my pamphlet “How to handle a Medicare lien” available on my website.

Then try to have the insurance company agree to a hold harmless and release providing indemnification from any claims by Medicare including fines and/or interest.

If they will not agree then as a last resort negotiate with the adjuster or attorney to enter into an enforceable Settlement Agreement, which would be reported to Medicare, but deferring the actual payment of the settlement funds until such time as you have obtained a final demand letter from Medicare setting forth Medicare’s entitlement. Separate checks can then be issued to Medicare on the one hand, and the plaintiff and plaintiff’s attorney on the other.

It is well known that within America, most of the wealth is owned by a small percentage at the top. The sad thing about this is that not only does wealth relate to spending abilities and big houses. It translates itself into other issues, such as the ability to afford equal access to basic human services. Among these services are health and dental insurance. The poor are unable to afford health and dental insurance while the wealthy has immediate access. The solution to this problem is health and dental insurance. These two services work under a simple principle of temporal need. The fact of the matter is, even though everyone needs these services, we don’t all need them at the same time. What this means is that it becomes possible to pool our resources (money), and apply them to a select group when it becomes necessary.

This brilliant idea of leverage works very well when applied to health and dental insurance. Now, the question is how else can we leverage this idea? Many people are aware of life insurance, health insurance, but how many know of legal insurance? Unfortunately not many, and therefore many people go without legal counsel because they believe it to be unaffordable. Fortunately this is not true, and everyone has access to legal counsel, making the promises of equal justice possible.

A legal service plan can provide access to legal counsel, when it is needed at a very affordable price. You may be shocked to know how well the idea of temporal need works. It becomes apparent that top-notch legal counsel is affordable to everyone, enabling us to say as the big wigs do “I will consult my lawyer on this issue.” Another question arises, how often do people need legal advice and why would they even consider pre paying for such service? Well, here is a list of cases in which legal aid would be a great help:

- Identify theft
- IRS audit
- Dealing with speeding tickets
- Adopting a child
- Signing a contract
- Dog is poisoned
- Get charged a hidden fee on a bill
- Incorrect listings on credit report

We live in a litigious country and the list goes on and on. Legal service plans have been around for a long time and are widely available and used in Europe. Pretty soon they will be just as popular in America. I personally love the comfort of knowing I have a lawyer backing me, so I signed up for a legal service plan the minute I heard about it.

Worker’s Compensation Insurance for construction-related framing contractors has always been expensive. Danny Harter, owner of DH Framing already knew that much because he faithfully carried this insurance in order to work in legal compliance with State insurance requirements. But what Danny wasn’t expecting – to be suddenly cancelled by his Worker’s Compensation Insurance carrier – happened in November, 2004 – all because “out of the blue,” his insurance carrier simply decided that his company was “too small” for their interest. Danny had two employees, including himself, and a weekly payroll between $1,500 and $2,000.00.

Danny was notified of his cancelled workers comp policy when the client he was busily working for one morning, came up to him and said, “You can’t work on this job – I’ve got a notice here that you don’t have valid Worker’s Comp Certificates with your insurance carrier anymore.” How embarrassing!

Danny obviously lost time on the job, and income. But he did what he needed to do, and immediately started contacting insurance carriers, trying to find someone who would not consider him “too small,” or otherwise, undesirable. After all, he was and still is a successful, hard-working small businessman. Shouldn’t someone be interested in writing his business?

To no avail, Danny could not find an insurance carrier that would underwrite his business. Fortunately, he contacted an insurance agent who just happened to know about the Worker’s Comp Co-Op. “Call these guys,” the insurance agent said. And Danny did. I picked up the phone and talked to Danny about his business, and what happened to him.

Within one week, Danny and his employee were not only back on the job with the client who had to stop his work – he also had payroll services and worker’s comp insurance coverage without those big deposits you have to put down with traditional insurance agents. So Danny saved not only saved his business. He saved additional, unnecessary hours – weeks – of downtime on the job, and those huge upfront fees.

There are many students who study abroad and out of their own country and if you are one of these students, then international student health insurance will be on the agenda and put into place before you leave to study. Applying for insurance that meets your destination country’s government and school legal requirement should be addressed when seeking to purchase quality health coverage. There are some things that you will have to make sure you understand when applying for coverage. Let us discuss this further.

Will I be Able to Renew My Policy?

There should be a definitely understanding before you purchase a policy, on whether you will or will not be allowed to renew your policy when it expires. Most companies will stand to let you renew or extend your policy plan, if there has not been a break in coverage. Keeping the requirements of eligibility fulfilled will mean that there usually are no problems with renewing or extending your coverage. Any international student health insurance that is of a good quality will not bog you down with concern and allow you to renew a policy with no worries.

My Plan Begins When?

Many plans will let you start coverage the day you purchase it or any date you may want the coverage to begin when filling out the application form. If you are purchasing coverage that will start the day you plan to leave the country, then an extra call to your insurance company, just to verify that the international student health coverage is in place for your peace of mind and for the requirements of the school and government.

Will I need Additional Health Coverage?

Depending on what you will be doing such as playing sports or participating in any risky athletic activities outside your studies, there may be a need for you to purchase additional coverage if you plan does not cover these things. Most do however, some may not. Clarifying your concern for this coverage should be addressed when you are ready to purchase a plan. You may even be able to get a discount plan due to needing one with more coverage and this can work in your favor with saving on monthly premiums.

International student health coverage should be easy to manage online as this will be important if you need to submit claims and such. You should not have to be tied down with excessive phone calls and mailings to an insurance company to get them to help with benefits that you have been paying for should you ever need them. A clear indication of a great insurance company will be in how they help you process your claims should you ever need to submit any while you are abroad. If you are not sure about a company and whether they will be ideal to purchase a student health coverage plan from, then do some research and find out from others their experience with the company if possible. Ask other students about whom they use for insurance coverage as well.

Insurance for a minibus, as with any motor vehicle, is required by the law. The minimum level is Third Party cover but this is a very basic policy. The minibus owner is risking a large bill if something were to happen that required a claim.

Uses for a minibus can include transport for nursing homes, schools, local authorities and charities. Popular commercial uses include taxis, hotel transport and employee transport. Each use has different potential risks that need to be covered by the minibus insurance and often a policy will be tailored to these specific requirements.

The three main types of policy cover are Comprehensive, Third Party Fire and Theft, and Third Party Only.

As mentioned earlier, Third Party is the minimum level of insurance cover as required by law. It will cover liability for death or injury to third parties, liability for damage to other people’s property and legal costs in connection to claims against your policy.

By adding Fire and Theft the minibus is covered if damaged when stolen or being involved in a fire.

Comprehensive is the highest level of minibus insurance and will cover most risks. These may include providing medical expenses after an accident, replacing personal effects lost after a theft or accident, and insuring against damage to the minibus’s windows and windscreen.

There are certain ‘add ons’ that can be applied to each policy, depending on the minibus’s use. Additional public liability may be needed if the vehicle is carrying fee paying passengers or European breakdown cover for minibuses that travel regularly to the continent.

If travelling to Europe the insurance policy will require a green card. Many insurance providers now include this as standard. It will enable the minibus to be driven abroad with the same level of cover, for a maximum period of 90 days.

Whatever policy is chosen it is better to be ‘safe than sorry’, especially if there is the extra responsibility of transporting passengers. If the minibus is used by many different drivers then leave a copy of the policy in the vehicle in case it is required after an accident.

To avoid paying too much for minibus insurance, seek advice from a specialist insurance provider such as the Minibusclub.co.uk. They will tailor a policy to the vehicle’s specific requirements and ensure there are no unexpected surprises when making a claim.