California Supreme Court Get It Wrong
On Thursday, August 17, 2011, The California Supreme Court handed down
their long-awaited decision in the case of Howell v. Hamilton Meat and
Provisions. Prior to this decision, an injured plaintiff(accident victim)
was able to recover the full billed amount of his or her medical bills
incurred as a result of an accident. The 6 to 1 decision decided that
only the amount the medical provider has accepted as full payment for
the provided medical services may be recovered as a past medical expense.
What does this case mean to injured accident victims in Palm Springs,
Palm Desert, Indio, and the Coachella Valley? It means settlements with
insurance companies and jury verdicts will be reduced for innocent accident
victims. As a Palm Springs auto accident attorney representing accident
victims injured by the negligent conduct of others, I find this Supreme
Court decision to be a serious assault on the legal rights of consumers.
In my practice as a Coachella Valley personal injury attorney, I am contacted
by accident victims who for financial reasons do not have medical insurance.
They have lost jobs or work for employer's who don't provide medical
insurance. If these uninsured persons get into an auto accident caused
by the negligent conduct of another person they still need medical treatment
even if they have no insurance. Since they are uninsured, their medical
bills are not reduced by a contract between insurance companies like Blue
Cross and the medical provider such as a hospital. If the hospital bill
for the uninsured accident victim is $10.000.00, that amount can be recovered
from the insurance company of the negligent driver. Now, however, after
the Howell decision, an accident victim with medical insurance will not
be able to recover $10,000.00 from the negligent driver's insurance
company if the $10,000.00 original hospital bill was reduced to $3000.00
because that amount is the reduced charge negotiated between Blue Cross
and the hospital. In the above scenario, the accident victim with medical
insurance that cost money in the form of premiums will recover less against
the negligent driver than the uninsured innocent accident victim. Is that
logical? I don't think so.
Posted By
Barry Regar APLC
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