Medical insurers win big in California Supreme Court decision

Sacramento Bee ^ | 8/19/11 | Dan Walters

[SmithL]

The state Supreme Court handed insurers and business groups a major legal victory – and personal injury lawyers an equally big setback – on Thursday by imposing limits on medical damages in one of the era's most closely watched civil cases.

The issue in the case, Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, was whether an injured party could collect the full medical care costs billed by doctors and hospitals, or the lesser amount that the medical providers accepted from an insurance company.

[SmithL]

Now bill the ambulance chasers for all the legal costs.

[DAC21]

Incredible this made it to Court, then again it is California, home sweet home.

[glorgau]

Only suckers pay retail.

[brityank]

There’s a couple of things that should be done to eliminate the lawfare robbery that the trial bar is so good at:

1) Losing Plaintiff’s Lawyer pays full 50% of the Defendants full court costs and legal fees. Every lawyer is considered an “officer of the court” and as such is not allowed to present the court with specious or fraudulent claims.

2) No funds from a Punitive Damage Award shall be paid to a Plaintiff or any attorney. They are fully compensated by the award of the case itself, including the costs and fees. Punitive damages are a warning provided to the public that violating the rules as created by our society will not be tolerated. Any proceeds from such awards should return to that society, not to enrich the lawyers and plaintiffs of the case.

Here the bills were accepted as “Paid in Full” at a 40% discount, yet the plaintiff lawyers thought they could steal a Billion Dollars from their fraudulent representations at the bar. Were I the judge, I’d pull their bar cards and drum them out of business. But then, IANAL and those snakes do slither together!