Announcements | | | Medicare Secondary Payer--Liability Insurance | | Medicare Secondary Payer--Liability Insurance (Including Self-Insurance) Settlements, Judgments, Awards, or Other Payments and Future Medicals -- INFORMATION. The purpose of this memorandum is to provide information regarding proposed Liability Medicare Set-Aside Arrangement (LMSA) amounts related to liability insurance (including self-insurance) settlements, judgments, awards, or other payments (“settlements”). DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES -Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) Click on headline to access memo. | TTLA Annual Meeting & Advanced PI CLE December 1-2, Hotel ZaZa Houston | | Formerly the TTLA Annual Conference, our December event is now the Annual Meeting & Advanced PI CLE! We've streamlined this event and we're now offering a one-day Advanced PI CLE, along with the Annual Membership & Board Meeting, President's Luncheon, and a spectacular Holiday Party at the home of Steve and Amber Mostyn. Topics include: Trucking, Immigration, Insurance Bad Faith, Discovery, Cross Examination And More! | Share on FB & Twitter | | | Public Citizen: A Failed Experiment | | Health Care in Texas Has Worsened in Key Respects Since State Instituted Liability Caps in 2003. October 12, 2011 — A common perception among policymakers and pundits is that medical malpractice litigation is significantly, or even chiefly, to blame for skyrocketing health care costs and steadily diminishing access to care. But analysis of data in Texas, which in 2003 imposed some of the strictest liability caps in the country, tells a far different story. While litigation over malpractice in Texas has plummeted dramatically since the caps were imposed, residents of Texas (except for people with financial connections to liability insurance companies and, to a lesser extent, doctors) have realized few, if any, benefits. Instead, the health care picture in Texas has worsened significantly by almost any measure. Public Citizen, NA 10/12/2011 | Read Article: NA | Laws/Cases | | | Wrongful Death Suit Against Utah Tossed Out | | A judge in Utah has dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the state over the death of a boy in a bear attack four years ago. The lawsuit claimed the state failed to warn people of the danger of bears in the camping area. The judge said that under state law, "the state is immune when a plaintiff’s injury arises out of, in connection with, or results from any natural condition on publicly owned or controlled lands." Staff Report, The Salt Lake Tribune 10/11/2011 | Read Article: The Salt Lake Tribune | US Supreme Court Considers Whether ‘Right to Sue’ Means Only Right to Arbitration | | The Supreme Court justices asked the question half a dozen ways: When Congress writes legislation that says, “You have a right to sue,” why doesn’t that mean that consumers have a right to file a lawsuit in court? And the lawyer on the receiving end of the queries answered each time: Because your precedents say so. The case was about whether customers who are unhappy about the allegedly hidden costs of the credit cards they received from CompuCredit can sue the company in court, or whether they must abide by the fine print in their contracts. It said that all disputes must be handled by arbitration. Robert Barnes, The Washington Post 10/12/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post | Suit Challenges Release of Autopsy Report | | A New York woman has filed a lawsuit in New York that challenges the New York City Medical Examiner's right to release autopsy information. The suit, which seeks to protect the cause of death of the plaintiff's 42-year-old son, claims "autopsy and toxicology reports are not public record in New York City and their findings should not be either." The suit claims the autopsy reports are "medical records," which should not be released without the family's consent. Jeff Kunerth, Orlando Sentinel 10/11/2011 | Read Article: Orlando Sentinel | Issues | | | Websites Share User Data More Than Previously Thought | | Popular websites are disclosing personal information to advertisers and others more often than previously believed, according to new research, and the finding is renewing calls to let Internet users block companies from tracking their online surfing. Information that could easily identify you — your name, user name or email address, for instance — typically is embedded in the Uniform Resource Locator, or URL, that websites share with online advertisers and other third parties, said Jonathan Mayer, a Stanford graduate student who studied the issue and released his findings Tuesday. Jim Puzzanghera and Jessica Guynn, LA Times 10/12/2011 | Read Article: LA Times | | | | |