Reno Personal Injury Lawyer - All Topics - Latest Comments

A comment on Exposing Myths About Medical Malpractice

Mike Bryant — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:02:46 GMT

Actually you talk of damages as if they are mystical. In reality they are affected by experienced lawyers that know how to work up a claim, ask the right questions, and prove the case. I've never had an issue with arguing pain and suffering. But I deal with real people and not just numbers.

A comment on Exposing Myths About Medical Malpractice

Jim O'Hare AIC AIS VP med mal claims — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:50:09 GMT

Dear Mike:
Math guys, actuaries, raters and underwriters get together and come up with complicated calculations to arrive at a premium for a specified amount of insurance. Policy limit is = to a cap of sorts.

So you know what you are selling for the price. A cap or policy limit is just an upper end, worse case scenario, to make all the equations work to justify the premium. If you place a zero or infinity in any equation, it yields no result.That is why we need a cap and speed limits.

As I said- we can argue the amount of the cap but not that they arent needed., if only to make the math work.

For every other cause of compensible action there is a formula. Lets say, my insured kills your client , he is 60 earning $50k/yr. What are the economics here and how did you determine it? You objectively determined the value of an objective loss. What is it worth if he was to work forever?

Pain and suffering is a subjective concept that cant be measured, seen, tasted nor weighed. Alot is always a good response for what pain is worth. One guys pain cant be measured against another to determine a value. A cap is just an upper limit. I have seen $1mil awarded for pain, suffered for 3 minutes, as well as a lifetime worth.

You cant buy happiness nor pain and suffering.
regards Jim

Yes fix healthcare, the #1 problem

A comment on Exposing Myths About Medical Malpractice

Mike Bryant — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:14:36 GMT

I agree with everything there. So why are you calling for caps? They don't work for the consumer. We do need real reform, and we very much need a health care bill that not only provides coverage, but protects people.

A comment on Exposing Myths About Medical Malpractice

Jim O'Hare AIC AIS VP med mal claims — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:06:37 GMT

Dear Mike - I think that you missed my point all together. The cost of healthcare has nothing to do with med mal costs. Med mal, litigation and PL premiums are in one bucket, and the cost of getting your broken leg fixed is another bucket for the price of an arm and a leg, is in the other bucket.

You can say the cost of HC causes medical mistakes, as most cases are related to fatigue, poor staffing and bad communication due to fatigue. All staffing issues due to the cost of HC.
regards Jim

A comment on Exposing Myths About Medical Malpractice

Mike Bryant — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:49:43 GMT

Sure, people with more claims should pay higher premiums. So your doctor with hurrican type damge shouldn't be shocked. Actually shouldn't be practicing medicine.

I'm not the one making the link. You are. I understand what you wrote as calling for caps to make a differance in this healthcare bill. It simply won't. Texas still has high costs with caps, they may have attracted bad docters and in the end the consumer suffers. The practice of medicine is not safer in anyway what's so ever.
Minnesota has low rates, low number of cases and great heathcare. No caps. We have a system that works.

A comment on Exposing Myths About Medical Malpractice

Jim O'Hare med mal claims guy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:11:48 GMT

Dear Mike- My point was that the number of claims are a direct cause of premiums going up, this is always true for any type of claim. Hurricane insurance would be dirt cheap in Kentucky- no claims.

Things are better in Texas, evidenced by doctors moving there, strictly due to a better litigation climate due to reforms. They didnt go there because the HC is expensive. The cost of the healthcare in Texas is completely unrelated to the med mal climate. Healthcare costs are not set by the physicians are they? The Healtcare brokerage megagiants are driving that bus. How do you connect med mal reforms to the cost of healthcare. Kinda like blaming Ford for the price of a gallon of gas.
regards Jim

A comment on Exposing Myths About Medical Malpractice

Mike Bryant — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:51:59 GMT

Interesting that you would use a hurricane and a third at fault accident as the examples. If a doctor gets to that level of malpractice shouldn't their rates go up? Should they even be treating anyone? Also you use the myth that things are better in Texas. Have you seen the list of most expensive places to find care? Caps only shift the burden to society and let those at fault do cost benefit analysis on peoples lives.

A comment on Exposing Myths About Medical Malpractice

Jim O'Hare AIC AIS VP med mal claims — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:39:45 GMT

Several comments from a med mal claims guy since 1985
- Aetna and BC/BS do not provide healthcare, they are just brokers with a 35% overhead.

- There is too much med mal. I dont buy 98000, as I dont believe that only 5% of med mal turns into litigation. Can the plaintiffs bar really allow 90000 claims go un attended?

- RE the 5 Myths:
1 - There arent too many frivelous suits, as it costs money for you to bring them. Some are better than others.

2 - Healthcare costs is the problem with HC costs. There is a license for them to steal. Med mal is a distant cousin to the cost of HC. Who would care about defensive medicine if it was cheap?

3 - Doctors do flee. Ill and Tx and Pa had huge problems til tort reform brought them back. There are counties in Fl w/o neurosurgeons and OB's.

4 - Of course the # of claims drives up premiums. This is true for all lines. i.e.- find me cheap hurricane insurance in Florida. Not there. Why? - the # of claims. See what happens to juniors auto premium when he reports his 3rd accident.

5 - tort reform does lower rates. In 2004 there were 3 med mal writers in Fl, now there are 30+. A cap for P&S allows underwriters and raters to plug a real objective number into the premium equation, as protection against an open ended concept as what pain is worth. You cant rate infinity and make an equation work. WE can discuss the amount of the cap , but not the necessity. Rates in Florida have decreased 5 years in a row due to tort reform and competition. The same would work for healthcare.

regards Jim

A comment on AAJ Clarifies: MMSEA's Section 111 Does Not Require Set-Asides in Liability Cases

Brad — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:53:58 GMT

I don't see anywhere that the Regs mandate a formal MSA approval process for liability cases (but then I didn't see the Regs mandating a formal MSA prior approval process for worker's compensation either).

The importance is in the designation of future medical expense money received (an allocation) so that CMS knows how much it can claim as an exclusion to Medicare coverage for possible injury related future medical expenses.

The MSA approval process developed in workers comp as the only avenue for workers compensation insurance carriers to be sure that CMS was satisfied that they "adequately considered" Medicare's interests in a settlement to prevent the threat of subsequent reimbursement litigation.

For liability settlements there is no MSA review process presently required or anticipated (except by voluntary submission only) but, "[T]he new Section 111 requirements do not change or eliminate any existing obligations under the MSP statutory provisions or regulations."

Therefore, it is my interpretation that a liability settlement that does not designate a specific allocation of money received for future medical expense may be seen by CMS as not protecting or considering Medicare's interests. If so, then the whole entire amount of the liability settlement could become Medicare's credit against future payment of any injury related medical expense.

The real person harmed by failing to allocate an amount in the Release Agreement for future medical money received in liability settlements will be the injured plaintiff himself if Medicare eventually denies all his future medical expense as claimed by Medicare to be excluded from coverage as injury related.

As I see it, in liability settlements, the Regs only require reimbursement of "conditional payments" and "considering Medicare's interests" which I read as repayment of lien and a specific allocation of medical expense money received in settlement so that CMS can accurately determine their future credit.

Brad Bleakney-- Chicago

A comment on Senate Holds Hearing on Medical Device Safety Act

JILL PAUL RN — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:26:26 GMT

Steve, great job. Dr. William Maisel said it all when he said, " The FDA cannot possibly regulate over 15,000 medical manufacturers and stay on top of it." Also, Mr Peter Hutt acknowledged (I believe) being on the board of 10 medical manufacturing companies. Perhaps that is something to check out? We need to restore our legal rights through the Civil Justice System. Why car manufacturers can be sued for a faulty product and not medical device manufacturers, is something that you, as Attorneys, should be questioning. Thank you.