Health plans' claims for reimbursement from personal injury recovery: recent ERISA rulings, unanswered questions: healthcare plan reimbursement has been a contentious issue for plaintiffs' personal injury lawyers and plan counsel alike. The United States Supreme Court's recent Sereboff decision answered some questions, but others remain.
Generally, health insurance (or self-funded benefits) provided by an employer or an employee organization to the employees and their dependents is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 USC section 1001 et seq. Individual health insurance policies, group health insurance policies that are not employment related,...

How FDA regulations and injury litigation cripple the medical device industry. (Law & Justice).
MEDICAL DEVICES and implants are among the modern marvels that alleviate pain and suffering, as well as prolong and add to the quality of life. However, manufacturers of medical devices face a triple threat in their efforts to develop such products. The U.S. Food.and Drug Administration can use its...

The high price of auto insurance.
Legislatures are in the unenviable position of trying to keep everybody happy - taxpayers, accident victims, insurance companies and even lawyers. Most taxpayers know only two things about auto insurance: Forty-four states say they have to have it, and it costs too much. Americans paid an estimated $142...

Reforming tort law in Australia: a personal perspective.
[For 30 years Harold Luntz has been a major participant in personal injury law reform debates and a passionate advocate of the abolition of tort law and its replacement by a no-fault compensation scheme. The aim of this article is to place the 2002 Review of the Law of...

Motor insurance: Go for a cover to suit your needs.
Byline: Ashish Gupta Insurance is a tool by which the losses suffered by a few are spread over many, exposed to similar risks. Insurance provides protection against financial loss arising on the happening of an unexpected event. Insurance companies collect premiums to provide for this protection. A...

Protect yourself with automobile insurance.
Byline: Kavita Sriram People who despise congestion, long queues and long waits, rely less on public transport and more on their own vehicles. Mahesh and his family decided to drive through the night, and spend their vacation in Goa. At around 10 at night, it began to...

Is injury compensation excessive?
In Australia, excessive awards in personal damage cases are widely perceived to have created a public liability crisis and cuts in valued services. This paper analyses whether awards for damages are excessive. The paper starts by setting out a normative basis for awards based on welfare economic principles and...

We're not liable - we're volunteer board members.
The phone message usually goes something like this: We currently carry a commercial general liability that provides us with $5,000,000 public liability, content insurance of $16,000, exterior glass and sewer back-up. The information provided to previous executives about board insurance is that it is not required because...

Gunning for cover.
Byline: Aman Dhall & Dheeraj Tiwari If you have a raging romance with Walther P99s, Beretta AR-70 /90s, Smith & Wesson .357s and the likes, go ahead and take aim. But before you get trigger-happy, spare a thought - does your prized possession have an appropriate cover?...

Trigger-happy: Think for an appropriate cover.
Byline: Aman Dhall & Dheeraj Tiwari If you have a raging romance with Walther P99s, Beretta AR-70/90s, Smith & Wesson .357s and the likes, go ahead and take aim. But before you get trigger-happy, spare a thought - does your prized possession have an appropriate cover? ...