Licensed in Missouri and Kansas

Insurance Company Fast-Ones, Part Two

Health insurance companies have thousands of trial lawyers across the United States working for them for free, all at the expense of the lawyers' injured clients. Its highway robbery at the highest level. Here's how:

Corporations and other businesses that offer health insurance plans make their workers sign hundreds of pages-long agreements. Buried within these health benefit agreements are clauses that say that if you are hurt because of someone else's negligence and need medical care, and you later obtain compensation from the negligent party, you have to pay back the health insurance company dollar for dollar what they paid for your medical care.

So, you get hurt because someone did something wrong, like ran a red light and collided with you. Feeling overwhelmed, you hire a lawyer to help you with your personal injury claim. The lawyer settles your case or wins at trial, and the wrongdoer must compensate you for your losses (like medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering).

Not only do you have to pay your lawyer's fees and expenses, but you also have to pay back your health insurance company for what they paid for your medical care, dollar for dollar. The lawyer, through his or her work, obtained this money that was meant for you, but must now rather go to the health insurance company.

The worst part? They don't help pay the lawyer's fees for getting that money for them. It's free, found money for the insurance company. They don't have to pay their fair share of the lawyer's expenses. To make matters worse, they expect their money with an attitude of self-entitlement and ungratefulness. Most times they won't even consider reducing the amount you owe them so that they bear at least a part of the attorney's fees. Simply put, your lawyer works for them for free, at your expense.

These hijinks have recently been upheld by the United State Supreme Court. So, unless Congress makes a change, this robbery is now the law of the land in America.

This is just one example of the imbalance that injured people face in our country, and just one of the things that motivates me to fight for my clients.

Categories: