Personal Injury and Social Security Disability Blog

Texas May Actually Punish Uninsured Motorists (Finally)

As reported in today's Dallas Morning News, Texas may actually start getting serious about punishing uninsured motorists. Of course, I'll believe that when I see it happen.

For many years, it has been against the law to operate a motor vehicle in Texas without complying with the financial responsibility act — basically either showing proof of liability insurance or putting up a bond to be self-insured. But that law has never been vigorously prosecuted, and there has been no state-wide effort to identify uninsured motorists and get them off the road. Why? Because the auto insurance companies have always been opposed to mandatory insurance, and in Texas the insurance companies control the Legislature and the courts.

Auto insurance companies make high profits for the same reasons health insurance companies do — they insure only the cream of the crop, unless forced to do otherwise by law. So auto insurance companies are perfectly happy to insure only the people who are rich enough to easily afford insurance and who are responsible enough to buy it. As for the poor and/or irresponsible drivers, the carriers would much rather not be burdened by insuring them. Here are excerpts from the newspaper article:

Three years after the Legislature passed a law to crack down on uninsured motorists, the number of drivers caught without insurance coverage under the 2005 statute is exactly – zero.

Start-up of the new insurance verification program has been snagged by initial delays in hiring a private contractor to create a database, differences among state agencies responsible for implementing the law, worries that some data may be inaccurate and doubts about the program by the insurance industry.

The program, funded with an annual $1 fee paid by all Texas drivers when renewing their vehicle registration, aims to create a database for police officers, state troopers and vehicle inspection stations to instantly verify whether a motorist has the minimum coverage required under state law. The database would be set up with information provided by insurers.

An estimated one in five Texans drives without insurance, costing insured motorists an extra $1 billion a year for protection against uninsured drivers. State officials say they are aiming to launch a pilot program in June.

One group that lobbied for the law was MADD [Mothers Against Drunk Driving] of Texas, which argued that the average drunken driver is less likely to have insurance than other drivers.

"The need for this law has not changed in the past three years. In fact, it has probably gotten worse," said Bill Lewis of MADD-Texas. "There are probably more uninsured people today than when the law was passed."

Between 3 million and 4 million of the state's 16 million drivers are uninsured, according to state officials and the insurance industry.

"We have never supported any sort of compulsory auto insurance, particularly one open to inaccuracies when using a database," said Jerry Johns, president of Southwestern Insurance Information Service, an industry group.

"We will abide by the law and will certainly cooperate with the Texas Department of Insurance and other agencies involved. But we are concerned that if mistakes are made in the new system, it is the industry that will be blamed, and that's not the way it should be."

Although Texas has had a financial responsibility law requiring drivers to buy insurance for several years, enforcement has been difficult even though proof of insurance must be furnished to get a license renewal or safety inspection.

Millions of motorists skirt the law by using counterfeit proof-of-insurance cards or by obtaining a month's coverage of insurance to get an ID card, only to cancel the policy once they get their licenses renewed or their vehicles inspected.

Under the state program, a driver pulled over for a traffic violation or involved in an accident will still be asked to produce proof of insurance. But the officer also will run the license plate of the vehicle through the insurance database to determine whether the driver has insurance.

The state also will contact drivers without insurance by mail, warning them of the consequences for not having an insurance policy.

Workers' Health Insurance Costs Soar

Yesterday's Los Angeles Times had a good article on the outrageous cost of health insurance, especially relative to inflation. As a small-business owner, I struggle with this issue every year. Each time we come up for renewal, I am forced to increase our deductibles or reduce our benefits in order to keep the costs of premiums at a manageable level. I blame both the health insurance carriers for these increases and the health providers for increasing their fees at a much greater rate than inflation in general. Here are excerpts:

          

If gas and milk price hikes seem steep, check out health insurance premiums. They have increased 10 times faster than incomes in recent years, a study shows.

Workers with job-based coverage for their families saw earnings rise 3% from 2001 to 2005, while their health insurance premium contribution increased 30%, according to the study by researchers at the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota.

The average cost nationally of family coverage during the period increased nearly $2,500, to $10,728 from $8,281. The average cost for job-based family coverage in California increased more than $2,650, to $10,551 from $7,898.

Between 2001 and 2005, more than 30,000 of the 3.6 million private-sector employers offering health insurance as a benefit to workers dropped it.

As a result, the number of people in private-sector jobs that offered health insurance benefits declined by more than 4 million, and the number of people with private insurance fell by 2.4 million, or 6%, the study found.

   

One More Post About Minimum Auto Insurance Limits

This is the official news release from the Texas Department of Insurance about the recent increase in auto liability limits:

Minimum Auto Liability Insurance Limits to Increase on April 1

AUSTIN – The minimum amount of automobile liability insurance Texas drivers are required to carry for bodily injury/property damage will increase on April 1 from the current $20,000/$40,000/$15,000 (“20/40/15”) coverage to “25/50/25” coverage.

Texas law requires people who drive in Texas to be financially responsible for the accidents they cause. Most drivers do this by buying auto liability insurance. Liability insurance pays to repair or replace the other driver’s vehicle and pays the medical expenses of the other party; it does not pay to repair or replace the policyholder’s vehicle.

The current minimum amount of liability insurance required by law is $20,000 for each person injured in an accident, up to a total of $40,000 for everyone injured in an accident, and $15,000 for property damage per accident. The limits will increase on April 1 to $25,000 of coverage for each injured person, up to a total of $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage.

The 80^th Legislature amended the current financial responsibility law in 2007 to increase the auto liability limits amid concerns that the current limits aren’t enough to cover the costs of an accident resulting in severe injury or major vehicle damage.

The limits will increase again on January 1, 2011, to $30,000 of coverage for each injured person, up to a total of $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage per accident (30/60/25).

Drivers who carry minimum limits will begin to notice the new limits as they renew their auto policies or buy a new policy, but they won’t need to take any action unless contacted by their insurance company.

There are severe penalties for violating the state’s financial responsibility law. A first conviction will result in a fine between $175 and $350. Subsequent convictions could result in fines of $350 to $1,000, suspension of your driver’s license, and impoundment of your vehicle. The state of Texas will implement the new Texas Financial Responsibility Verification Program this spring that will allow law enforcement officers to immediately verify whether a driver has car insurance.

For more information about the new limits or automobile insurance coverage, visit the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) resource page at http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/consumer/financialrespon.html, read TDI’s Automobile Insurance Made Easy publication at http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/pubs/consumer/cb020.html or call the Consumer Help Line at 1-800-252-3439.

Reminder - Texas Auto Liability Minimum Limits Raised

I've written before about the woefully low minimum automobile liability insurance limits in Texas, and how they were going to changed in April 2008. Well, the time has finally come, and as of April 1, the minimum insurance requirements were increased under the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act. This applies to policies purchased or renewed on or after that date.

Now, the minimum limits are no longer 20,000/40,000/15.000. The new state-mandated limits are 25,000/50,000/25,000. That means $25,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in one accident; $50,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in one accident; and $25,000 for damage to or destruction of the property of others in one accident. These limits are still far too low, both for injury and property damage, but at least it's a small step in the right direction.

We advise all our clients to purchase more than the minimum limits if possible, and please pay the few extra dollars to add Personal Injury Protection and Uninsured Motorist coverage to your policy. Statistics show that 25% or more of all Texas motorists have no auto insurance coverage. If you get hit by one of those drivers and you don't have Uninsured Motorist coverage, you'll probably be out of luck. Talk to your insurance agent now about adding this coverage.

Frivolous Disability Claims Are Overloading The Social Security Disability System

Lawyer who represent Social Security disability claimants have always known that the disability system is clogged up with frivolous claims. People, for one reason or another, who file a Social Security disability claim when they know they don't qualify. Some people file claims even though they're able to work full-time, and other people file claims even though they haven't worked long enough to qualify for benefits.

But we've also known that many of these frivolous claims are from people who have been forced to file by their long-term-disability insurance carriers. Now word is getting out to the general public about this problem of LTD carriers filing frivolous Social Security disability claims and causing people with legitimate claims to have to wait longer for resolution.

The Dallas Morning News carried a long article about this problem recently. Here are excerpts from the story:

The Social Security system is choking on paperwork and spending millions of dollars a year screening dubious applications for disability benefits, according to lawsuits filed by whistle-blowers.

Insurance companies are the source of the problem, the lawsuits say. The insurers are forcing many people who file disability claims with them to also apply to Social Security – even people who clearly do not qualify for the government program.

The Social Security Administration defines "disabled" much more stringently than the insurers generally do, so it rejects most of the applications, at least initially. Often, the insurers then tell their claimants to appeal, the lawsuits say, raising the cost.

The insurers say that requiring a Social Security assessment is a standard practice and that there is nothing wrong with it. The policies they sell allow them to coordinate their benefit payments with others to make sure no one is paid twice. Thus, if a disabled person can get benefits from somewhere else – like workers' compensation, a disability pension or Social Security – the insurance company can reduce the benefit check by that amount.

The flood of referrals, however, is making it hard for Social Security to respond to people who are truly disabled, said Kenneth Nibali, the former top administrator of the Social Security disability program.

"Anybody who is forced to come into this system, and who doesn't need to be there, is affecting someone else," said Mr. Nibali, an expert witness for the plaintiffs. "They're holding up cases for the people who have been waiting for months and years, who in many cases are much worse off."

The number of people waiting for hearings on their disability claims by an administrative law judge has more than doubled since 2000, and the average wait has grown to 512 days in that time, from 258 days.

Medical Insurers Agree To Pay For Online Doctor Visits

Here's a potentially exciting development in the area of health insurance -- carriers may start paying for online medical consultations. More and more doctors and clinics are making themselves available to their patients online, usually for simple questions. This process can save the hassle and the expense of an in-office medical visit. If carriers will pay for these consultations, more people may use them and we'll have fewer people walking around sick because they can't take the time to visit the doctor in person. Here are excerpts from a Dallas Morning News story on the subject:

Since the dawn of e-mail, patients have been pleading for more doctors to offer medical advice online. No traffic jams, no long waits, no germ-infested offices.

There was always one major roadblock: Many health insurers wouldn't pay for it.

Until now.

In recent weeks, Aetna Inc., the nation's largest insurer, and Cigna Corp. have agreed to reimburse doctors for online visits.

Other large insurers are expected to follow, experts say.

These new online services, which typically cost the same as a regular office visit, are aimed primarily at those who already have a doctor.

The virtual visits are considered best for follow-up consultations and treatment for minor ailments such as colds and sore throats.

But some specialists, including cardiologists and gynecologists, also see these e-mail visits as ideal for periodic checkups that don't require in-person presence.

"People can wait a long time to get in to see their primary-care doctor and longer for a specialist. ... To have immediate access is huge," said Dr. Melissa Welch, Aetna's medical director for northern California.

"Paying doctors to do more patient care over the Internet is a small but important step in a good direction," said David Cutler, a Harvard University health care economist. "It increases patient access and could significantly improve their satisfaction."

Texas Will Finally Crack Down On Uninsured Motorists

As reported in the Dallas Morning News, Texas will finally get serious about enforcing the mandatory auto insurance law, beginning in 2008.

One reason we have had no enforcement to speak of is that insurance companies really don't want everyone to have auto insurance. In my opinion, they figure that the good drivers and responsible adults already have insurance. So the remaining 4,000,000 or so Texans are the bad drivers, drunks, and other "undesirable" people. Those are the ones most likely to cause car wrecks and thereby cost their insurance companies money. It's a little like health insurance companies, who would prefer to insure only young, healthy adults. Here are excerpts from the story:

Beginning next month, the state will launch its long-delayed program to nab the estimated one in five Texas motorists who are violating the law by driving without insurance.

The insurance verification program will begin in Austin for two months and, if successful, will be expanded to Dallas and the rest of the state.

The program, funded with a $1 fee paid by Texans when renewing their vehicle registration each year, allows police officers, state troopers, vehicle inspection stations and others to instantly verify whether a motorist has the minimum insurance coverage required under state law. The verification will come through a central database set up with information provided by insurers.

About 20 to 25 percent of drivers – as many as 4 million Texans – are uninsured, according to state officials and the insurance industry. The state has roughly 16 million drivers.

Although Texas has had a financial responsibility law requiring drivers to buy insurance for several years, enforcement has been difficult even though proof of insurance must be furnished to get a license renewal or safety inspection. The minimum policy must contain liability coverage to pay for injuries and damage caused by the driver.

Millions of motorists skirt the law by using counterfeit proof-of-insurance cards or by obtaining a month's coverage of insurance to get an ID card, only to cancel the policy once they get their licenses renewed or their vehicles inspected.

To combat the problem locally, a growing number of cities, including several in North Texas, have started local programs to penalize uninsured drivers by towing their cars. Among those cities are Arlington, Dallas, DeSoto, Garland, Irving and Mesquite.

Under the state program, a driver pulled over for a traffic violation or involved in an accident will still be asked to produce proof of insurance. But the officer will also run the license plate of the vehicle through the insurance database to determine whether the driver really has insurance.

A ticket will be issued to violators, subjecting them to a fine of $175 to $350 on the first offense. The fines jump on the second and third offenses – $350 to $1,000 – and the third offense can result in suspension of the driver's license and impoundment of the vehicle. Those who ignore the fines are subject to arrest.

Drivers caught without insurance also are put in the Texas Driver Responsibility Program, requiring them to pay an additional $250 a year to the state for three years.

Although the insurance checks will initially occur at traffic stops, they will be quickly expanded to annual vehicle registrations and, by next summer, to vehicle inspections. Some county tax collectors, who issue vehicle registration stickers, could be using the system as early as February.

In addition, the state will contact drivers without insurance by mail, warning them of the consequences for not having insurance.

Although the insurance verification law was passed in 2005, the program has been delayed as state officials and the insurance industry sought to make sure that mistakes would be minimal.

INSURANCE VERIFICATION: HOW IT WORKS

Uninsured drivers will be identified through a state database that will include information from insurance companies on all drivers who have policies on their vehicles. Drivers will be checked when they:

•Are stopped for a traffic violation by a law enforcement officer, who can run their license plate number though the database.

•Are involved in an accident.

•Obtain an annual vehicle inspection.

•Submit payment for a new vehicle registration sticker.

Also, the state plans to mail out warnings to drivers who are found to have no minimum liability insurance. Current minimum coverage limits are:

•$25,000 for injury or death of one person in an accident.

•$50,000 for injury or death of two or more persons.

•$25,000 for damage or destruction of property.

Link of the Day - Teensurance - Safety Beacon GPS Vehicle Tracking

I've written before about special insurance policies, and helpful insurance company products, for teenage drivers. I'm not endorsing anything, but I do think it's interesting to see the direction some insurance companies are taking.

Safeco Insurance offers "Teensurance" products that include a GPS system so the parents can track their child's driving. Here are some excerpts from Safeco's site:

Letting your teen drive without you is an important step, but can be stressful for you as a parent. The Safety Beacon Convenience and Protection System uses a professionally installed GPS-based vehicle monitoring device that delivers real time notifications to help keep you aware of the habits of your new driver. Safety Beacon also allows your teen to show you they can act responsibly and earn your trust.

Stolen Vehicle Retrieval Support

The Safety Beacon alarm feature can alert you if your vehicle is moved unexpectedly. If you need to report the car stolen, an operator will locate the vehicle and work with police to retrieve it.

Remote Door Unlock

Locking your keys in your car can happen to anybody, but it can also leave your teen in an unsafe situation. With Teensurance, all it takes is a phone call to get back in the car.

Speed Reminders

To help your teen build safe habits, you can set a safe speed threshold and receive a notification when the car exceeds that threshold for more than 30 seconds.

Instant Locate

See your vehicle's location, direction, and speed in real time on a map.

Safe Driving Zones

Many parents want their teens to stay relatively close to home in the first months while they practice their new driving skills. This function allows you to set a perimeter for your teen to stay within. Whenever the vehicle goes outside your preset boundaries, you'll be notified instantly.

Arrival and Departure Notifications

Your teen was heading to a friend's house across town; how can you be sure he made it there all right? With the Safety Beacon, you can know your teen arrived safely, even when they forget to check in.

Driving Curfew Reminders

Receive an email or phone message if your vehicle is operating outside the times you've agreed to with your teen.

Link of the Day - Top Ten Tips In Case Of Property Loss

My friend, California lawyer Jonathan Stein, was raised near San Diego, in an area hard-hit by the fires. He has offered free legal advice to any people having problems with their insurance companies regarding fire losses. He has also posted a Top Ten Tips list for those who have lost their homes or other property to the fires. While the list is for California residents, most of them apply equally to homeowners in any state. Read these tips before you have a loss:

1. Document your structure loss. Take pictures or video of the damaged area. If you know what was there, talk on the video camera. If you are taking still pictures, then write down what was damaged. Example: "The outside of the house had siding, painted 5 years ago, brown."
2. Document your personal property loss. Take pictures or video of any damaged/destroyed personal property. Put the details on the tape or write it down. Example: "Nintendo Wii, purchased Jan. 2007 for $400 at Target."
3. Call your insurance company. They are going to be inundated with claims. Be patient, but expect a fairly quick response because the insurance companies are sending tons of adjusters into the area. Give them whatever details you have.
4. Walk through your damage with the adjuster. Do not let him/her do it himself or herself. You need to walk through the damage and tell them what was damaged, as descriptively as possible.
5. Ask for an estimate within 24 hours. If you have structure damage, make sure you call a contractor. WARNING: Call a licensed contractor ONLY. If you are solicited by a contractor, ask for the license number and look it up at the Contractor's State License Board website.
6. Compare your estimate with the insurance company's estimate. Remember, their estimate is not gospel. You are entitled to have any licensed contractor complete the repairs. If the estimates are different, tell the adjuster to work out the differences with the contractor. And yes, prices will be higher, but that is the insurance company's problem, not yours.
7. For personal property, start replacing your items and KEEP YOUR receipts. If you have a replacement cost policy, they owe you the cost to replace the damaged items with similar items. If you have an actual cash value policy, then you get the depreciated amount. (Do not let them write down everything that was damaged and take a set depreciation amount. Each item has to be depreciated individually.)
8. If you have to move into a hotel, keep your receipts. The insurance company owes you for the lodging plus an increase in food expenses and any other expenses incurred as a result of the loss. (Hint: When they ask you to estimate your pre-loss food expenses, do not overestimate this. It will hurt you at time of reimbursement.)
9. Do not let the adjuster bully you around. Do not let the adjuster tell you that your loss is not covered. If they deny your claim, make them put it in writing. If they tell you something that you do not understand, ask for it in writing.
10. Do not sign anything unless and until you fully understand it. Make sure you know what you are signing. And if you do not, get help from someone.

Autistic Children's Treatment Must Now Be Covered By Health Insurance

One of the bills recently passed by the Texas Legislature will be good for the parents of autistic children. House Bill 1919, which becomes effective September 1, 2007, mandates that employer-provided health insurance policies must provide coverage for certain treatments for autistic children between the ages of three and five.

The text of the bill itemizes some services as "generally recognized," such as evaluation and assessment services, applied behavior analysis, behavior training and behavior management, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and medications and nutritional supplements used to address symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.