Insurance Companies Practice Deny & Delay Tactics
Good Morning America has a story that illustrates how insurance companies use deny and delay tactics to avoid paying legitimate insurance claims.
In this case, a woman with Stage 4 breast cancer tried to collect disability insurance. But Cigna repeatedly denied Susan Kristoff's claim for short-term disability.
Continue Reading Posted By Grace Kanoy In Insurance Practices | Permalink | 0 Comments |Cigna said she had not proven a disability. Sick and with bills piled up, Kristoff says she considered something drastic.
"If I wasn't going to be getting better, I didn't want to sink the rest of my family, so I spent two days in bed crying and thinking about suicide," she said.
Instead Kristoff hired an attorney. In short order, Cigna reversed course and paid her short-term benefits. Then with her lawyer's help, she applied for the much more important long-term help.
Big pain for workers in New Jersey
Workers already suffering from injuries are getting another round of punishment heaped upon them. The federal agency that administers Medicare is causing the harm by freezing workers' compensation payments for months or even years while cases are reviewed.
Insurance Companies Systematically Mistreat Consumers for Financial Gain
Anyone who thinks the insurance companies are looking out for consumers needs to read the American Association of Justice's report Pattern of Greed, which my colleague Grace Kanoy blogged about last week.
The American Association of Justice report examines tactics that insurance companies used in denying claims after Hurricane Katrina.
Continue Reading Posted By Dan Deuterman In Insurance Practices | Permalink | 0 Comments |
American Association for Justice releases report on Insurance greed
The American Association for Justice just released a report entitled Pattern of Greed: How insurance companies put profits over policyholders. Personal Injury attorneys have long known about the unethical tactics used by insurance companies to avoid paying fair claims. In the past few years, the AAJ have really assumed a stronger role in educating the consumer about these insurance practices. In this latest report, it highlights the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the second devastation experienced by the residents along the Gulf Coast, this time caused by the insurance companies.
Here's the full report.
Posted By Grace Kanoy In Insurance Practices | Permalink | 0 Comments |
Media Jumps to Judgment in Describing Starbucks Burn Lawsuit as Frivolous
Once again, the mainstream media is helping to perpetuate the myth of the frivolous lawsuit.
This time the culprit is Good Morning America Radio on XM Sattelite Radio.
Recently, the show's host reported about a lawsuit that a New Jersey man filed after suffering third-degree burns at Starbucks.
Here's the gist of the Starbucks burn lawsuit, as covered by a New Jersey newspaper:
A Wayne man filed suit Thursday against a local Starbucks, claiming his hand was scalded by overly hot tea from an improperly lidded cup.
Antonio Couso and his wife, Lucy, were at a Starbucks on Route 23 in Wayne on March 12, 2006, when the spill occurred, according to the civil suit filed in state Superior Court in Paterson.
Fort Lee lawyer Rosemary Arnold, representing the Cousos, said that "when he went to pick up the cup, the top wasn't on correctly. The top came off.
"When you as a consumer go into a Starbucks and order tea and the lid is on the cup, when you pick up the cup, you have a right to expect that the server has put the lid on properly," Arnold said.
The Myth of the Frivolous Lawsuit
The insurance lobby and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have spent more than $200 million on advertising that maligns personal injury attorneys and creates the myth that frivolous lawsuits are rampant.
Unfortunately, cases like the $67 million pants lawsuit where a Washington, D.C. judge sued a dry cleaner for losing his favorite pair of pants, help keep the myth alive.
Fortunately, there are people trying to tell the other side of the story. InjuryBoard has produced a video called "Mr. Fancy Pants," the first in a series that examines the realities of the American civil justice system. The video, available on YouTube, is a powerful counterpoint to the tort reform movement.
Posted By Dan Deuterman In Insurance Practices | Permalink | 0 Comments |
Stop Insurance rate increases, vote against bill SB901
We recently sent out letters to our clients urging them to call their Congressman and Senator to reject the bill SB901 aka "the Premium Increase Act of 2007" which is working it's way through the NC State Assembly. We have received numerous calls to our office from clients who needed a clearer explanation of what this bill implies.
I found this article, Insurance rates not high enough? in the Wilmington Star online that explains the implications of this bill quite clearly. Please read it, and tell everyone you know to call their local Congressman and Senator to vote against it.
Posted By Dan Deuterman In Insurance Practices , News , Workers' Compensation Reform | Permalink | 0 Comments |
Strategies for reducing WC costs
The Small Business Blog offers some good advice on how employers can cut their workers' compensation insurance costs without eroding benefits.
Among the options:
- Prevent workplace injuries and illnesses through employee training and reviews of high-risk areas.
- Shop around for the best insurance policy.
- Consider self-insurance..
Visit the blog for more on each topic.
Posted By Grace Kanoy In Insurance Practices , WC Cases | Permalink | 0 Comments |
SC Senate Democrat's blog highlights insurance greed
Senate Democrat Leader John C. Lander III of the South Carolina talks about the shocking freedom that insurance companies have in establishing their premium rates for workers' compensation. How is it possible that they have gotten away with this gross advantage?
More examples of how the insurance companies have distorted public perception of workers' compensation fraud.
http://scsenatedems.blogspot.com/2007/03/workers-compensation-makes-insurance.html
Posted By Grace Kanoy In Insurance Practices , WC Fraud | Permalink | 1 Comments |
Major insurance companies have adopted a take-it-or-leave-it approach with people filing minor-impact claims.
This latest CNN article about the hardball insurance practices was sent to me by my listserv: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/09/insurance.hardball/index.html
As this article candidly explains, these auto insurance carriers are paying less and less on injury claims, but still continue to increase the premiums for their customers. Meanwhile the insurance companies continue to inundate the media with advertising that casts them in the role of helper and hero. The result is this: more and more jurors are coming to jury duty with the preconceived notion that the plaintiff must be greedy, committing fraud, or looking for a big payday.
The CNN article even quotes a former juror who said she assumed that the plaintiff in the case that she heard had already received payment for injuries and other damages from the insurance company and that she brought the lawsuit out of greed. In reality, the accident victim's insurance claim was never paid, and she lost in court.
The revelations in this article won't surprise attorneys who represent injured people. Large auto insurance carriers have been using this hardball tactics for years when addressing claims. They have a huge incentive -- profits -- to continue to act this way in the future.
Continue Reading Posted By Joel Davis In Ethics , Insurance Practices , News | Permalink | 3 Comments |