Month: February 2010

If you have a child who is lucky enough to have a moped or a four-wheel off road vehicle  (ATV) there are some things you need to know.  Sometimes the child will be injured, through the negligence of another while riding the moped or the off road vehicle.  Those injuries may include spinal cord injuries, brain injury, back injury, amputation, paralysis (either paraplegia, quadriplegia or just a single limb), broken bones, herniated discs, facial injuries and more. A good accident attorney or accident lawyer knows that these vehicles may not be covered on your homeowners policy or auto policy.   Here’s why, and what you need to do to protect your children.

The reason the vehicle may not be covered is because it may not be a listed vehicle on your auto insurance.  Most auto insurance policies require, if the vehicle is owned by you, it must be listed under the policy to be covered.   The first thing you need to know is that your insurance is a matter of contract.  In Indiana, generally, the Insurance companies are free to write into their contracts restrictions you would not know about or even imagine could be allowed in the contract.  So, the first thing you must do is read your contract of insurance.  If you do not feel comfortable doing this, you can pay a lawyer for an hour of his/her time to tell you what the contract means.  If you do not wish to pay a lawyer, you can sit down with your insurance agent and have them explain the coverage to you.  Be aware, however, that your agent, although well intentioned works for the insurance company and has no legal training.  So if you do ask your agent to explain the provisions of the policy, know that their advice may not be accurate.

A second measure for your protection is to inform your agent, in writing and keeping a copy for yourself, that you have a moped or other off road vehicle and you what to make sure it is covered under your homeowners policy, or your auto policy.  It will probably raise your rates a bit, but it is worth it to protect yourself and your children.

At Young and Young, we have over 55 years of experiences helping people recover the proper compensation for their injuries.  Please give us a call.

People who are injured in truck accidents, semi tractor-trailer highway accidents, motorcycle accidents, construction accidents, car wrecks with drunk drivers and other automobile accidents often must rely on Medicaid or Medicare to pay the bills for their injuries.  It does not matter if the injury is a brain injury, a spinal cord injury resulting in paralysis, such as paraplegia or quadriplegia, back injury, blindness, amputation or even wrongful death.  Smart accident attorneys and accident lawyers know the difference between these two government sponsored health plans.

First, Medicare is a federal government program funded with federal government dollars.  Medicaid is a state run program which is funded in large part (upwards of 80%) by federal dollars.  The rest of the money is contributed by state funds.  All the money we are talking about come from tax dollars.  These two programs make up a large part of the debt you hear about on the news these days.  There is some concern about whether we can sustain these programs, but that is a discussion for another day.  What you need to know today is that these programs are functioning to assist lower income and disabled Americans pay their medical bills and obtain medical services.

Medicare is available to those who have reached retirement age or are receiving Social Security Disability. It is an entitlement program, meaning that if you are at retirement age, or on Social Security Disability, you are entitled to the benefits of the Medicare program.  Medicaid is a needs based program.  This means that you must have limited resources (money).  I believe the eligibility cap these days is less than $2,000.00 in assets.  Therefore you are only eligible for Medicaid if you meet these need requirements.

Each program has its own rules and regulations about what it will pay for.  You should visit the website of the Social Security Administration to find out the type and limit of those benefits.   You should visit your local state Medicaid office for information about Medicaid benefits.

If you are injured and these programs pay for your bills, but the cause of your injuries was the negligence of another person, and you recover compensation from that person, both programs are entitled to be repaid some or all of the money paid for your bills.  Smart injury attorneys know how to deal with and negotiate with these programs on your behalf.  John P. Young knows the ins and outs of how these programs work to help you pay your bills if you are injured in a car accident or a construction accident.  Please, give him a call.

In today’s challenging economic times, the coverage you carry in your automobile insurance policy may protect you more than you realize. Unfortunately, many drivers carry no insurance or allow their policy to lapse (both of which are illegal), and many more only get the state minimum limits.

The mandatory minimum automobile liability coverage (that is, what the responsibility party, i.e., the person at fault in the accident, owes to the injured party) in Indiana is as follows: at least $25,000 for bodily injury to one person; at least $50,000 for all bodily injuries, and at least $10,000 for property damage. This is referred to as 25/50/10 coverage. But again, this is only the minimum required by law, and can be a drop in the bucket in the case of a serious accident. In other words, if you are the responsible party in a serious collision on the road, you could wind up personally on the hook for more money damages beyond what your policy provides.

Operating a motor vehicle in Indiana without liability insurance can result in a driver’s license suspension of three months to one year along with fines.

You can help to protect yourself if you are in an accident that is not your fault by making sure your uninsured and underinsured limits are sufficient to protect you. The state minimums for this coverage are: uninsured motorists–bodily injury $25000/$50,000, underinsured motorists–bodily injury $50,000, and property damage $10,000. All auto insurance policies in Indiana must offer this kind of coverage unless you reject the coverage in writing.

If you or someone in your car is injured in a traffic accident by an uninsured driver, then the uninsured motorist coverage from your own auto policy steps in and provides financial protection up to the limits that you purchased. Likewise if you are in a car wreck with someone who has minimum state limits, then your underinsured motorist coverage steps in to protect you financially up to the limits for that coverage.

You should review your current policy with your insurance agent and inquire as to the additional cost that would increase your current liability coverage, medical payments, and uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. You will find the additional premiums can be reasonable, and it is much better to put the added protection in place now than to wait until after being in a collision when it is too late.  The additional insurance protection is not retroactive.

Having Medicare at a time when you are injured in a car wreck with a drunk driver gives you great peace of mind. It does not have to be a traffic accident with a drunk driver, it could be a highway accident with a semi-tractor trailer, a truck accident with a motorcycle, or any kind of vehicle accident or truck crash.  It is unlikely to be a construction accident because most people who are on Medicare are either retired or disabled. As you know Medicare will pay for all types of traumatically caused injuries including spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis including paraplegia, and quadriplegia, back injury, amputations, brain injury, electrocution, burns, and most serious personal injuries. Medicare will even pay for medical bills incurred if your injuries result in wrongful death.

Medicare, however, does not want to be responsible for the payment of medical bills if your injuries were caused by someone else’s negligence. Medicare wants the negligent person’s car insurance or liability insurance to be responsible for your injuries. After all, it was the person who was negligent that caused your injuries, and that person purchased insurance to cover them if they are negligent, therefore, the negligent person, and their insurance company should be responsible for compensating you. Fortunately, Medicare will pay your bills as they come due. You then, as the Medicare recipient, have certain duties to Medicare to repay Medicare for the amounts they paid for the bills you received because of the injuries caused by the negligent person. This duty is known, in the law, as the duty of SUBROGATION. It is not important to remember the name, but it is important to know that the duty exists, and if you do not repay Medicare at the time of your settlement, Medicare can pursue you later and recover the money they paid.

Smart accident attorneys and smart injury attorneys know the procedure for contacting Medicare to insure your Medicare obligations are met. This procedure starts with you completing a form which appoints your car accident lawyer or truck crash lawyer as your representative to Medicare for the purpose of negotiating your lien. This is handled through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The actual paperwork is processed through the Medicare Secondary Payer Recovery Center (MSPRC). You can learn more about the process at www.msprc.info. The MSPRC requires you or your accident attorney to submit information about your injury, the person who caused it and that person’s insurance company. Medicare will then provide you with the amount of the medical bills they paid for your injury. Once you reach a settlement with the person who caused your injury, this information must be submitted to the MSPRC, and a final payment letter will be issued by them telling you how much you are obligated to repay.

At Young and Young, we have helped many, many clients work their way through the Medicare repayment maze. We are ready willing and able to assist you, and your loved ones and friends, when you are injured by the negligence of others. Please give us a call.