Despite the health care industry’s best efforts to hide and distort the facts, the utter corruption and greed of the profit-driven U.S. health care “system” has become more and more visible as people who pay ever-increasing premiums in good faith are denied medical care when they need it by private corporations who put profits ahead of human needs. Increasingly, decent working people are priced out of medical care altogether; a serious illness or injury can destroy families economically.

Sadly, lawmakers in the nation’s capitol appear unwilling to change the status quo, though things may change at the state and local levels sometime in the next several years. In the meantime, if you have suffered a serious injury in an accident — such as a head trauma — your best course of action is to hire a personal injury lawyer.

Legal Assistance From a Denver Head Trauma Lawyer

Personal injuries, including head trauma, are covered under the area of law known as torts. Personal injury law has several categories, not all of which have to do with actual physical injury. Personal injury can also include damage to one’s reputation, as in cases of slander or libel; they can involve property, as when someone removes something from another’s land without authorization; it can also cover psychological and emotional distress and even cases of monetary fraud.

Most cases in which a personal injury lawyer represents a client however involves actual physical injuries that require medical attention.

When To Call a Head Trauma Lawyer

There are two situations in which you may need to call a Denver head trauma lawyer (including doing so on a loved one’s behalf):

o If the head trauma was caused by another’s negligence, resulting in an accident that caused the injury

o If a medical insurer denies payment

The second is all-too-common, and in fact both situations may be involved. Insurance companies have teams of lawyers whose job it is to find loopholes that will allow the corporation to withhold payment on a policy and even drop a customer altogether.

The ideal personal injury lawyer is one who has actually worked for an insurance company and knows the legal machinations that are used to cheat people out of that to which they are legally entitled.

If you suffer an injury requiring the services of a Head Trauma Lawyer, it is important not to sign nor say anything until you have the representation of qualified legal counsel.

By: Jonathan Blocker

The HIPAA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was passed by congress in 1996 in order to provide HIPAA rights or protection for employees when they change jobs or are involuntarily terminated from their job. The Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act was also designed to prevent health care fraud and to insure that the Department Health and Human Services establish rules that enhance health care system efficiency.

There are many facets to HIPAA and several moving parts to establishing HIPAA requirements. The most common Hippa rights subject matter is contained within Title One and Title Two of the HIPAA act.

Title One: Title one of HIPAA was enacted for the standardization of group health plans as well as certain individual health policies. Title one places regulations on restrictions that group plans can place on benefits for pre-existing conditions. The country would be a beautiful place if no one ever got sick. Unfortunately, we know that sickness is inevitable. Group insurers are allowed to place 12-18 month “exclusions” of coverage on certain pre-existing conditions. Simply put a group insurer may offer group coverage for an individual. However, the insurer may delay coverage for a condition that existed prior to plan enrollment. Title one of the Health Insurance Portability act protects the insurance seeker in that it does not allow insurers to place exclusions on pre-existing conditions if the insurance seeker had creditable coverage for a period prior to enrollment in the new plan. If there is an exclusion period, HIPAA decreases exclusion periods by the length of time that an insurance seeker had creditable coverage. For the sake of clarity of medical insurance portability an example is provided below:

John has recently been laid off from a job he has had for three years. John has had health insurance coverage through his employer’s group health plan for the entire three-year period. John has been treated for a medical condition just 3 weeks prior to being terminated. HIPAA requirements insure that if John is hired to a new job and subsequently applying for health coverage under a new group health plan, the insurer may not place an exclusion period of 12 months on John’s pre-existing condition because he has had creditable group health plan coverage for at least a 12 month period prior to new plan enrollment.

Title Two: Title Two of HIPAA protects HIPAA rights by assigning penalties associated with offenses related to health care. HIPAA rights are further protected under Title Two with the creation of programs that target controlling fraud within the health care system. HIPAA requirements include rules to be drafted to increase the overall effectiveness of the health care system by creating criteria for the distribution of health care information.

The Department of Health and Human Services defines the entities that must comply with HIPAA requirements. Entities include health care providers, health plans and health care billing services that transmit medical information and health records. The Department of Health and Human Services has disseminated five rules that are incorporated in Title Two of HIPAA. Privacy Rule, Transactions and Code Sets Rule, Security Rule, the Unique Rule and the Enforcement Rule. For more information regarding specific HIPAA rules see HIPAA rules at the Texas Low Cost Health Insurance web site.

By: Simeon Knight

Some people may not be too happy with where they are living and may be thinking about moving to Europe. Europe can be a great place to move to. Many countries in Europe have amazing health care. They also have more relaxed work environments. Other people might be interested in the variety or cultures in close proximity.

People are moving to Europe for a variety of reasons. One of the most important issues that make people move to Europe is health care. America has a flawed health care system and everyone is very aware of it. If you cannot afford to pay for your health care then you are out of luck. It is a system that only benefits the rich and leaves the poor to suffer and often die. People get stuck in bad situations too. If you are sick and have no insurance then you won’t get treated. If you are living from paycheck to paycheck and you have no insurance, and you get sick, then you are up a creak without a panel. This affects so many people in America it is easy to see why so many are moving to Europe.

Many people are also moving to Europe for better jobs. Most jobs in Europe are not just better meaning that they pay more or are just nicer jobs to work. Many jobs also just have better work packages. Europeans in general have more vacation time, more sick time and better benefits packages. It really shows through their society as well. People are in general less stressed out and even healthier than in countries that work their people to the bone. It is even apparent in their children’s lives. Children go into school much later in the day. They also are given lunch breaks long enough to allow them to return home for lunch. Is it any wonder that most European children are doing so well academically as compared to other countries? For most people that is reason enough for moving to Europe.

One of the most attractive things about Europe is the closeness to lots of other countries. Europe is so diverse in such a small area. This can be very attractive to people that are looking to diversify their lives. Moving to Europe is a great way to get exposed to all sorts of different people with different points of view. One can easily in just one-day travel from England to France, to Germany, to Poland. The whole time one is experiencing different languages, different foods and different customs. Moving to Europe can be a great way to expose not only oneself to many cultures and histories but also a great way to educate ones children. There is something to be said about exposing your children to a world environment. This type of exposure can be very rewarding and can in the future make your child a more valuable employee.

By: Nicole Hedrick

Health insurance fraud represents one of America’s largest taxpayer rip-offs ever, costing Americans literally billions of dollars every year.

Due to rampant deception, scams and abuse in the health care system, consumers are forced to pay the price–literally–through escalating medical costs and rising health insurance premiums.

And government programs like Medicare and Medicaid, designed to help the low-income and elderly, represent two of the biggest losers of all.

Health Insurance Scams

According to the Insurance Information Institute, health providers and facilities such as doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic labs and attorneys routinely attempt to defraud the health insurance system…with devastating results.

How do they do it? In a number of ways, including:

Billing health insurance companies for expensive treatments, tests or equipment patients never had or never received Double- or triple-billing health insurers for the same treatments Giving health care recipients unnecessary, dangerous, or life-threatening treatments Selling low-cost health insurance coverage from fake insurance companies Stealing medical information and using it to bill health insurance companies for phantom treatments

If health insurance fraud knocks on your door, these types of scams may leave you with medical debts, damaged credit ratings, falsified health records, a high level of stress and overpriced health insurance premiums…or the inability to get any health insurance at all.

So what can you do about it?

Report it; then fight back!

What to Watch For

The first step to fighting health insurance fraud is keeping your eyes and ears open for abuse.

Be especially watchful for providers who:

Charge your health insurance company for services you never received or medical procedures you don’t need Give you prescriptions for controlled substances for no justified medical reason Bill your health insurance company for brand-name drugs when you actually get generics Misrepresent cosmetic or other health care procedures not usually covered by health insurance plans as covered

If you notice a health care provider doing any of these things, keep all supporting paperwork handy for reference, and then contact your health insurance company to let them know.

Then, if you’re a Medicare or Medicaid recipient, call the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services and report the abuse.

Finally, contact your state department of insurance or the local police.

Fighting Health Insurance Fraud

To keep yourself from falling victim to health insurance fraud, take the following steps to fight back:

* Check with your state insurance department to make sure your health insurance company is licensed in your state.

* Check out your health insurance company for consumer complaints, fraud convictions and bankruptcies through your state department of insurance.

* Keep detailed medical records.

* Carefully review your billing statements.

* Never sign blank insurance claim forms.

* Avoid salespeople offering free health services or advice.

* Protect your medical records and information.

* Make sure you know what your health insurance policy covers–and what it doesn’t.

* Never pay your health insurance premiums in cash.

* Be wary if you’re asked to pay a full year’s premium up front.

* Be on guard against medical providers claiming to be connected with federal programs or the government.

* Beware of health insurance companies offering you coverage at an unreasonably low price.

* Ask your health insurance provider about anything you don’t understand regarding your bills.

Making a Difference

Protect your right to health insurance, lower your premiums and keep your medical information safe. All it takes is a little education, a watchful eye, and the willingness to make a difference!

By: Penny Hagerman