Personal Injury Law

Health Insurance Providers going after Injury Settlements

By Brian F. LaBovick, Esq.

I came across an interesting article from the WallStreet Journal that was posted on MSN.com yesterday. The title was one that would raise the eyebrows of any plaintiff injury law firm  "Employers grab accident victims' cash" written by Vanessa Fuhrmans. I am no surprised that this article had a 4.58 rating among the nearly 3000 readers that read it. Personally, I felt it deserved a rating of 5, it was right on the mark.  The large insurance companies can't seem to stop trying to squeeze every little penny out of personal injury victims.  It cited the behemoth, Walmart, going after a brain damaged woman's personal injury settlement of $700,000 and demanding repayment of $470,000. What makes it outrageous is that her personal injury settlement only netted $417,000 after fees and other medical bills were paid.  This money was put in a trust to take care of her medical needs, however, the behemoth Walmart, did not care and felt they were entitled to all their money back plus legal fees.  They sued and won the case and feel no regret or guilt from taking everything from this poor personal injury victim that has no quality of life and s relegated to depend upon Medicaid and Social Security.  When will the large insurance companies stop sucking the blood from personal injury victims and finally learn to do what is right as a good corporate citizen. I wonder will we see this in our lifetime? 

Vanessa  Fuhrmans brings out startling revelations that most people do not know about their medical providers and how they can be in for a rude awakening, if they use their personal health insurance for injuries sustained in a personal injury accident, should their insurance company decide to come after them for reimbursement.  According to the article, some company health plans, reserve the right to recoup the medical expenses it paid for someone's treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit. This is becoming a growing trend around the country, as more employer health plan law suits are materializing.

Insurance Companies and large Corporations try to portray Trial Lawyers, especially Personal Injury lawyers as greedy individuals only after the almighty dollar. They should take a look in the mirror and and feel ashamed of themselves. After reading this article, I have a new admiration for good personal injury lawyers around the country that stand up and fight valiantly for justice for the average citizen.

Personal Injury Lawyers, stand up and take a bow for not backing down to these immoral, greedy and money hungry insurance companies and corporations that only care about large profits and finding new ways to exploit the little person.

Click here to read the WSJ Article Employers grab accident victims' cash on MSN.com

Full post as published by LaBovick Injury Law Blog on December 19, 2007 (boomark / email).