Brain Injury Law Blog : Head Injury : Coma : Personal Injury : Las Vegas Nevada Lawyer & Attorney Tim Titolo

The Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press  report  health insurance rate increases by Anthem Blue Cross resulted in lawsuits by policy holders.

The suit, which could gain class-action status, alleges that Anthem has violated "state law by closing certain policies to new members while illegally offering remaining customers alternative plans with fewer benefits at higher rates."

Meanwhile, the Kansas Health Institute has a package of stories about a malpractice case being considered by the Kansas Supreme Court in which the justices could determine if the state's caps on medical malpractice awards are constitutional.  The case involves a woman whose doctor removed the wrong ovary resulting in an award that was reduced based on the State's cap on medical malpractice lawsuits.

There is no argument that medical care costs have to be curtailed and are out of control.  Insurance companies are gouging  consumers by increasing rates to unattainable levels leaving people and businesses without insurance.

At the same time that medical negligence caps are unfairly limiting consumers rights to recover for genuine mistakes their doctors make.

And the legislature continues to mull over health care reform while the democractic majority leader, Harry Reid, suffer's personal set back relating to his wife and daughter's injury when a semi tractor rearended the car they were in. 

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FDR's New Deal gets a facelift in 2010.  Health Care reform has arrived.  And in the words of the Vice President, It is "a big f------g deal!"

The Brain Injury Association of America posts the following:

Coverage

·         Prohibits private health insurance exclusions for pre-existing conditions.

·         Eliminates annual and lifetime insurance limits or "caps" in private insurance policies.

·         Restricts the consideration of health status in setting premiums.

Benefits

·         Ensures that minimum covered benefits include products and services that enable people with brain injury to maintain and improve function, such as rehabilitation and habilitative services and devices. BIAA, along with our Business and Professional Council, and assisted by Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville, PC was the driving force in ensuring that rehabilitation was listed as a minimum benefit in this bill. Originally, when the bill was made public, rehabilitation was not listed as a minimum benefit.

Long Term Services and Supports

• The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act creates a national long term services insurance program which assists eligible individuals and their families to meet long term needs with a cash benefit and without forcing them into poverty to receive Medicaid benefits.
• The Community First Choice Option helps to eliminate institutional bias by encouraging  states to cover personal attendant services under the state’s optional service plan instead of through the waiver system by offering a 6% increase in the federal share of Medicaid for these services.

It is also important to note that, as part of the debate, Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr., co-chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, submitted a statement for the record detailing his understanding of the intent of the bill with regards to coverage of the treatment continuum for people with brain injury. BIAA thanks him for his hard work and dedication to this important issue.

Along with passing the Senate bill, House Democrats also approved a reconciliation bill that reflects negotiations reached by congressional Democrats and the White House to modify the version earlier passed by the Senate. This would be a “fix” that would eliminate the special deals given to certain states in return for Senate votes as the bill was passed by the Senate in December.

The Senate is expected to take up the bill as early as Tuesday under special budget reconciliation rules that will shield it from filibusters. BIAA will continue to monitor the situation closely as consideration concludes. 

Finally, BIAA would like to recognize the grassroots advocates that have truly made a difference in advocating for this historic legislation. Thank you to everyone who invested so much of their time to push this forward!

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The American Justice Association reports Georgia's Malpractice caps are unconstitutional.

Georgia High Court strikes down cap on medical malpractice awards.

http://www.georgiawatch.org/

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (3/23, Rankin) reports, "A unanimous Georgia Supreme Court on Monday struck down limits on jury awards in medical malpractice cases," ruling that the $350,000 cap on noneconomic damages violates the right to a jury trial guaranteed by the Georgia Constitution, as the cap "'clearly nullifies the jury's findings of fact regarding damages and thereby undermines the jury's basic function,' Chief Justice Carol Hunstein wrote for the court."

        The AP (3/23, Bluestein) reports that the ruling "will likely herald a flurry of new litigation, as the court said the ruling applied retroactively to all other pending medical-malpractice cases, including those that are now in the appeals process." In the case before the court, Betsy Nestlehutt "was awarded $1.15 million in non-economic damages -- including $900,000 in pain and suffering -- by a Fulton County jury after she was permanently disfigured after a botched facelift."

        The New York Times (3/23, A19, Brown) reports, "The ruling was praised by victims' rights groups and plaintiffs' lawyers and was condemned by doctors and Republican lawmakers."

        The Fulton County Daily Report (3/23, Palmer) reports, "Atlanta lawyer R. Adams 'Adam' Malone of Malone Law, who represents the plaintiffs in Monday's case, expressed gratitude for the unanimous nature of the ruling."

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I was pleasantly surprised by findings of a 2009 survey recently published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administation. 

As a short prelude to the findings, I always wondered why the law could enforce seatbelt usage and buses rarely even came equipped with them.  Well, at least not for passengers.

Although the regulations distinguish school buses from other passenger carrying buses, do we want our kids buckled up on their way to and from school?  What do you think about that?

New data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration show 74 percent of commercial truck and bus drivers are now using their safety belts. Only 65 percent of drivers were using safety belts in 2007.

A total of 20,818 commercial drivers operating medium- to heavy-duty trucks and buses were observed at 827 roadside sites nationwide for the survey. Key findings include:

• Safety belt use for both commercial drivers and their occupants was higher at 78 percent in states where law enforcement may stop drivers for not wearing a safety belt, versus 67 percent in states with weaker belt use laws.
• Commercial drivers for regional or national fleets showed higher safety belt use at 78 percent, versus 64 percent for independent owner-operators.
• Safety belt use rates for commercial drivers and their occupants were highest at 79 percent in the West, compared with 75 percent in the South, 68 percent in the Midwest, and 64 percent in the Northeast.

The executive summary for the Safety Belt Usage by Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers Survey and other safety belt educational materials may be found at www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safetybelt.

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We are down to the wire on Health Care.  The Brain Injury Association of America again prompts action.  I have written my representative to support the health care bill.

Brain Injury Awareness Day, 2010

Thank you to everyone that made this year’s Brain Injury Awareness Day on Capitol Hill a huge success! With record attendance at both the brain injury fair and briefing, hundreds of community members, survivors and state affiliates met with various lawmakers to advocate for increased brain injury appropriations, access to brain injury care, caregiver assistance, and other important issues.  Congratulations to all for a very successful day!

Health Care Reform Update

This week, both President Obama and Speaker Pelosi lobbied to win passage of their health care reform package. However, it is still unclear whether the two have procured the 216 votes needed to win the House vote that is projected to happen this Sunday. 

Now is the time for grassroots to act! I have copied below the action alert that was sent out earlier this week. If you have not yet called your representative, please do so as soon as possible!

Call Your Representative NOW – The House will Vote on Health Care Reform this Week!

The House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate health care reform bill at the end of this week. If the measure fails, the hope of health care reform will likely vanish for this year and maybe even for years to come.

Even though the House and Senate have both passed their versions of health care reform, the only way forward for the bill is for the House to approve the Senate version.

Your voice matters now more than ever. Call TOLL FREE 1-888-876-6242, if you don’t know who your representative is, click here.

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Brain Injury Association of America notes The House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate health care reform bill at the end of this week.

Call Your Representative NOW – The House will Vote on Health Care Reform this Week!

The House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate health care reform bill at the end of this week. If the measure fails, the hope of health care reform will likely vanish for this year and maybe even for years to come.

Even though the House and Senate have both passed their versions of health care reform, the only way forward for the bill is for the House to approve the Senate version.

Your voice matters now more than ever. Call TOLL FREE 1-888-876-6242, if you don’t know who your representative is, click here.

Tell your representative that you are a constituent that is concerned about health care reform.  Specifically, people that have sustained brain injuries need health care reform because:

• Millions with health insurance are now at the mercy of insurance companies that charge premiums beyond affordability.  The legislation would limit these increases.
• Many with insurance find that it won't cover them when they get sick - even after they have paid premiums for years.  The legislation will ban denials based on pre-existing conditions in children and adults.
• Patients who reach their lifetime insurance cap after a catastrophic injury or illness will be able to continue treatment in order to regain functionality and have a better chance of returning to work or school.  The bill will eliminate lifetime insurance limits.

AND...

Investing money now will save the government millions of dollars later when the private insurance companies are required to take responsibility for the premiums they collect instead of turning individuals facing catastrophic injury or illness away to rely on public plans and ultimately, the American taxpayers.

Some representatives in the House are debating on whether to vote for or against the bill. Regardless of how they voted in the past, many are still waying their options.  This measure is vital to the brain injury community, and we need your help to ensure that people with brain injury gain access to the care that they need and deserve!  CALL NOW!

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As a back and neck injury lawyer in Las Vegas, Nevada, I encounter untreated or undiagnosed spine injury often.  Even though back pain can affect people of any age, it is significantly more common among adults aged between 35 and 55 years.

Experts say that back pain is associated with the way our bones, muscles and ligaments in our backs work together.  

There are several diagnostic tests to assist physicians in detecting and treating back and neck conditions.

An interesting review entitled "Physical examination for lumbar radiculopathy due to disc herniation in patients with low-back pain" (Van der Windt DAWM, et al. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010) reveals that diagnosing back pain is not a simple matter. I read the findings.

While lower back pain ranks as a common cause of disability in the United States, determining what causes a person's back pain is often challenging. A new review on diagnosing back pain finds that no single diagnostic test is good at discriminating between patients who have a herniated disc and patients who do not.

Lawrence Kurz M.D., an orthopedic spinal surgeon at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., agreed with the results of this review: No one test is specific and sensitive enough to be used as the sole guide for making an accurate diagnosis of disc herniation as the cause of sciatica.

Healthy discs are spongy cushions of cartilage that fill the spaces between vertebrae in the spine. They act as shock absorbers for the spine and allow flexibility. A herniated disc can occur when a disc incurs damage because of trauma or stress and bulges outside of its normal position to press on a nerve. This can result in pain that radiates down to the lower leg - also called sciatica.
 

In other conditions, including osteoporosis and similar aging disorders, bony structures could press on nerves, causing pain.

Representing injured people with back and neck pain complaints requries diverse diagnositic testing.  Insurance company representative all too often point to one test to either deny or rule out a condition.

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Osteomyelitis means infection of the bone or bone marrow; inflammation of the bone due to infection. Osteomyelitis sometimes occurs as a complication of injury or surgery.

Merck advises Osteomyelitis occurs most commonly in young children and in older people, but all age groups are at risk. Osteomyelitis is also more likely to occur in people with serious medical conditions.

There are three types of osteomyelitis:

• Acute osteomyelitis - the infection develops within two weeks of an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.
• Sub-acute osteomyelitis - the infection develops within one or two months of an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.
• Chronic osteomyelitis - the bone infection starts at least two months after an injury, initial infection, or the start of an underlying disease.

Infections can reach a bone by traveling through your bloodstream or spreading from nearby tissue. Infections can also begin in the bone itself if trauma exposes your bone to germs. Bone infections commonly affect the long bones of your body, such as your leg bones and upper arm bone, as well as your spine and pelvis.

The symptoms are pain.  Doctors treat chronic osteomyelitis with surgery and antibiotics. In acute osteomyelitis in children or vertebral osteomyelitis, surgery isn't always necessary.  Once considered incurable, osteomyelitis can be successfully treated today. Still, osteomyelitis is a serious condition, requiring aggressive treatment to prevent spread of your infection and to save the affected bone. 

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