Government Lies in Texas
Governor Perry has posted his own response and claimed justification for vetoing HB3281 (the bill discussed on my July 14, 2007 post). Specifically, Governor Perry states: “This bill would permit an individual in a personal injury lawsuit (other than a medical malpractice claim) to recover more money for medical expenses than actually was or will be paid.” Governor Perry further argues that allowing Injured Victims to submit the full amount of their medical bills to the jury, when they may have obtained a small reduction of the total bills through their privately purchased health insurance, would be misleading to the jury. This might seem like a somewhat reasonable justification at first glance. Unfortunately, Governor Perry is simply not telling the truth. The Governor’s response misleads the Texas citizens when he claims that the bill which he vetoed would allow Injured Victims to recover more money than they actually paid in medical expenses — in reality, Injured Victims are not now, nor have they ever been, able to seek full recovery of the medical expenses that were actually paid! Injured Victims have never been able to ask the jury to make the Defendant (the drunk driver in our previous post) reimburse the Injured Victim for the health insurance premiums (which are clearly a part of the Injured Victim’s “medical expenses”) that the Injured Victim has had to pay in order to receive health care. Moreover, the Governor’s response does not discuss the fact that Attorneys and Judges are required by Texas law to pretend to the jury that insurance is not involved in a typical lawsuit.
In a typical car wreck case, the Injured Victim’s attorney has to sue the individual driver of the other car (the drunk driver in our example from the previous post), even though the defendant/drunk driver’s insurance company is actually hiring the attorney, making all of the decisions for defending the case, and making the decision as to whether to settle the case without a trial. The justification for this is that Insurance Companies believe that the jury will award less money if they think that the defendant/drunk driver does not have insurance and will have to pay the judgment out of his own pocket; therefore, the Insurance Companies have convinced our government not to allow the Injured Victim or his/her attorney to mention Insurance during the trial. In fact, in many cases, if the word “insurance” is mentioned by the Injured Victim or his/her attorney, then a mistrial is called and the whole trial has to be restarted with a new jury! What Governor Perry’s posted response fails to tell the Texas citizens is this:
- Texas law does not allow an Injured Victim who brings suit to tell the jury that he/she will have to repay his/her health insurance company back in full from any amount of money that the jury awards;
- The Judge, Attorneys, Plaintiff, Defendant, and all witnesses involved are required by law to protect the Insurance Companies by pretending to the Jury that Insurance is not involved in any aspect of the Injured Victim’s case;
- The law does not allow the Injured Victim to recover any portion of the health insurance premiums that he/she has paid for months or even years in order to maintain his/her health insurance. In fact, not only can the health insurance premiums not be recovered from the defendant/drunk driver and/or his auto insurance company, but the law allows the health insurance company to both (1) take back any money that it has paid for the Injured Victim’s health care and (2) keep the thousands of dollars in insurance premiums that the Injured Victim has paid for the health insurance! Talk about your double dipping!
- The Injured Victim is not even allowed to tell the jury that he/she has had to pay insurance premiums for his/her health insurance (much less how many thousands of dollars those premiums have totaled).
In conclusion, our Governor has succumbed to the influences of the Insurance Companies at the expense of the (dwindling) rights of the Texas citizens. June 15, 2007 (the date of Governor Perry’s veto) was a terribly sad day for Texas citizens.
So does this mean that if you settle with a insurance company without going to court that in Texas the insurance company is allowed to only reimburse you for the amount the health care provider paid. If my bills were $5,000.00 and my health provider only paid $2,500.00 I can only get the 2,500.00 added to my settlement? I am unclear as to what the rule is.
Comment by ruth hesskew — August 20, 2007 @ 6:55 am
Well, thanks to Governor Perry this law remains a bit unclear at this time. At least one Court has held that the 2003 statute limits your recovery to the amount actually paid by you or your insurance company for your medical treatment. Here is an example of how it works:
1. You have a hospital bill for $5,000.00
2. Your Health Ins. paid a negotiated Rate of $2,500.00
3. You were personally charged $1,000.00 for your co-pay and deductable
4. The hospital “writes off” the remaining $1,500.00 pursuant to its contract with your Health Ins. Company.
5. Under the interpretation of the law that is currently being applied, the settling defendant or insurance company (such as the other driver’s insurance company in a car wreck) is only required to pay medical expenses on the $3,500.00 that you and your insurance company have had to pay to the hospital.
Bear in mind that the Health Insurance Company in the example above will likely require that you pay back the $2,500.00 that it paid to the Hospital.
You should also understand that this limitation only applies to the portion of your claim that is for medical expenses. In most personal injury cases, you will also be entitled to reimbursement for other losses, such as lost wages, pain and suffering and future medical expenses. There are also additional losses, such as disfigurement, that may entitle an injury victim to compensation in certain cases. It is always advisable to speak with an experienced personal injury attorney about the specifics of your case so that you have a full understanding of your rights before you negotiate with an insurance company. Steele Law offers free consultations on these matters and may be contacted through the website at www.steelelawfirm.com or by telephone at 972-888-6088.
Comment by Dina Steele — August 22, 2007 @ 1:20 pm