Personal Injury and Social Security Disability Blog

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.

"Fatal" Mistakes Social Security Disability Clients Make

This is a short list of mistakes we have seen our clients make over the years. Whether you are our client, another lawyer's client, or simply trying to represent yourself in a claim for Social Security Disability benefits, you should read this list carefully and maybe you can avoid making one of these "fatal" mistakes.

Please call or write us if you have questions about this or any other legal matter.

    * Not being completely honest with the lawyer regarding medical conditions, work status, and drug or alcohol use.

    * Not going to the doctor regularly or not taking all the medications prescribed by the doctor.

    * Not attending all meetings scheduled with the lawyer.

    * Not keeping Social Security and the lawyer informed of the client's current address and telephone number.

    * Committing a crime that would cause Social Security to question the client's credibility.

    * Saying anything untruthful during the hearing with the Administrative Law Judge.

    * Continuing to smoke while claiming disability for heart or respiratory disease.

    * Not reading all letters from Social Security or from the lawyer, and missing a deadline contained in a letter.

    * Using illegal drugs or abusing legal drugs and alcohol.

    * Not attending medical examinations scheduled by Social Security.

    * Failing to tell the lawyer about every doctor the client has seen.

Studies On Chemical In Plastics Questioned - FDA

The Washington Post has an article today that illustrates the fallacy in the current trend of the Bush administration and the U.S. Supreme Court to push the doctrine of "preemption." This is the legal theory that basically states if a federal agency approves a product, then consumers are forbidden to file any claims for damages caused by that product. The argument against premption is that the government is starving the federal agencies by reducing their budgets, thereby reducing their abilities to adequately test products. The story is about safety concerns with the chemical compound bisphenol A (BPA). Here are excerpts.

Despite more than 100 published studies by government scientists and university laboratories that have raised health concerns about a chemical compound that is central to the multibillion-dollar plastics industry, the Food and Drug Administration has deemed it safe largely because of two studies, both funded by an industry trade group.

The agency says it has relied on research backed by the American Plastics Council because it had input on its design, monitored its progress and reviewed the raw data.

The compound, bisphenol A (BPA), has been linked to breast and prostate cancer, behavioral disorders and reproductive health problems in laboratory animals.

As evidence mounts about the risks of using BPA in baby bottles and other products, some experts and industry critics contend that chemical manufacturers have exerted influence over federal regulators to keep a possibly unsafe product on the market.

Congressional Democrats have begun investigating any industry influence in regulating BPA.

"Tobacco figured this out, and essentially it's the same model," said David Michaels, who was a federal regulator in the Clinton administration. "If you fight the science, you're able to postpone regulation and victim compensation, as well. As in this case, eventually the science becomes overwhelming. But if you can get five or 10 years of avoiding pollution control or production of chemicals, you've greatly increased your product.

Scientists first flagged possible health risks of BPA more than a decade ago. From 1997 to 2005, 116 studies of the compound were published, many of them focused on its effects in low doses. Of those funded by government, 90 percent showed a health effect linked to BPA. None of the industry-funded studies found an effect; all of them said BPA is safe.

Featured Link - Web 2.0 Directory

Are you one of those baffled by all the talk of Web 2.0? Here's the Wikipedia definition:

Web 2.0 is a trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to facilitate creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies. The term became notable after the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.^[2][3] Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs.

But the Featured Link is a cool directory of Web 2.0 sites, each represented by the company logo and searchable by category. As of now, there are more than 2300 sites represented at Go2Web20. Check it out.

Friday Fun

MindHabits is not just a game — it's a productivity tool, stress reducer, and confidence booster. Here's the description from the Web site:

MindHabits is based on new scientifically tested tools published in a journal of the American Psychological Association that help players reduce stress and boost self confidence and esteem using principles from social intelligence research.  

The games are as simple as finding a smiling face in a crowd of frowns - yet they are powerful repetitive training exercises demonstrated to refocus the way your mind perceives the world. Research  has demonstrated benefits from playing just five minutes a day. Give it a try and see if it works for you!

Featured Link - Internet Crime Complaint Center

The federal government has a Web site where you can report all those Internet scam e-mails you get every day. Not that it will do any good, but maybe you'll feel better after complaining. Here's the explanation from the Internet Crime Complaint Center:

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes.

The site does have a good section on Internet crime prevention that is well worth reading.

Featured Link - FoodSafety.gov

There have been so many food recalls lately that some of us are losing weight just worrying about the safety of what we eat. The federal government has a site filled with information about food safety. There's lots of good stuff here. Here's the description from the site:

FoodSafety.gov is a gateway website that provides links to selected government food safety-related information. Not every government web site is listed. When more than one government web site provides similar information, links will be provided to only one or two of those sites. Individuals with different backgrounds review all potential sites for inclusion on the FoodSafety.gov web site. This web site is part of the National Food Safety Information Network. It is maintained by FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

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.

Average Processing Times For Social Security Disability Claims

The list of the most recently available average processing times for Social Security disability claims throughout the nation has been published by NOSSCR. The Dallas and Forth Worth offices rank closer to the top than to the bottom, but processing times across the country are abysmal and unfair to claimants.

The times as of the first of March 2008 range from 258 days in Harrisburg, to 816 days in Indianapolis. Fort Worth ranks 43rd out of 143 offices, with an average processing time of 405 days. The North Dallas office ranks 57th, with an average processing time of 437 days, and the Downtown Dallas office ranks 66th, with an average processing time of 460 days.