Medicaid preemption ruling nixes one-size-fits-all state liens

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: March 22, 2013

Tags: Medicaid reimbursement, medical malpractice, personal injury, settlements, U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – Several states will have to revisit their Medicaid reimbursement rules after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a North Carolina law that set an automatic reimbursement rate for third-party tort awards as preempted by the Medicaid Act.

Medicaid Act preempts state third party liability law

Published: March 20, 2013

Tags: Medicaid, medical malpractice, personal injury, preemption, U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the federal Medicaid Act preempts a North Carolina third-party liability law authorizing the state to recoup as much as one-third of any medical malpractice jury award, regardless of how much of the award was designated for medical expenses by a judge or jury.

Obama signs Medicare secondary payer bill into law

Published: January 14, 2013

Tags: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Congress, Medicare Secondary Payer, personal injury

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has signed into law a measure designed to streamline the Medicare Secondary Payer reimbursement system.

Limited car use is ‘regular use’ under policy exclusion

Published: October 30, 2012

Tags: exclusion, insurance policies, personal injury

Driving a car solely for the purpose of going work constitutes “regular use” under an insurance policy exclusion that bars underinsured motorist coverage, a Pennsylvania appellate court ruled.

Jury awards $126.6 million in failure-to-diagnose verdict

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: October 18, 2012

Tags: medical malpractice, negligence, personal injury, verdicts

A New York woman who claims she sat unattended in a hospital for hours while medical personnel negligently failed to diagnose her heart attack has won a $126.6 million jury verdict.

Ambulance crash victim wins $117 million award

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: August 14, 2012

Tags: car crash, negligence, personal injury, verdict

A woman who suffered a severed spinal cord and traumatic brain injury in an ambulance crash that occurred while she was 7 months pregnant has been awarded $117 million by a Louisiana jury.

Former NFL players file MDL suit over concussions

Published: June 18, 2012

Tags: concussions, football, NFL, personal injury

A group of former National Football League players and widows have filed a multidistrict negligence suit in a Pennsylvania district court alleging that the league failed to give them proper training and treatment to prevent concussions during their careers playing professional sports.

Workplace-related injuries and illnesses decline

Published: October 24, 2011

Tags: Department of Labor, illnesses, personal injury, workplace safety

WASHINGTON – Workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers declined to a rate of 3.5 cases per 100 workers in 2010, according to recent statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Bipartisan bill would speed up MSP reimbursement

Published: October 18, 2011

Tags: Congress, Medicare Secondary Payer Act, personal injury

WASHINGTON – Legislation that would speed up the rate at which Medicare and its beneficiaries are reimbursed for costs under the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) system has been introduced in the Senate.

Can a federal court stop a state court class action?

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: January 18, 2011

Tags: Baycol, Civil Procedure, class action, economic loss, personal injury, preclusion

WASHINGTON – During oral arguments Tuesday in Smith v. Bayer, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court questioned whether a federal court had the authority to stop a state court from certifying a class action when the federal court had already denied certification in a similar case.

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