Personal injury claims as well as those for wrongful death under the applicable state statute usually bring with them a bagful of insurance coverage issues. Car crashes, for example, will involve coverage issues for policies purchased by both the innocent victim in a wreck as well as the policy that covers the negligent driver (which might be a company policy in cases like big rig semi truck accidents).
There are also claims that may be made under various health insurance policies. When people suffer from listeria exposure from food they’ve purchased at a grocery store or kids are hurt playing on a playground, then the first coverage issues to be addressed are those policies given to emergency room personnel. Parents rushing their injured child to the hospital aren’t thinking about insurance coverage issues, nor should they be.
ObamaCare Questions for the Personal Injury Victim
Which means that there are questions being raised concerning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), most commonly known as “ObamaCare.” In this week’s news coverage there are stories that the Congressional Budget Office has just released a new report on how ObamaCare will impact the American public and that the CBO’s coverage was off the mark by around 6 million people in the number of folk who could be required to pay a tax penalty under ObamaCare if they don’t get some kind of medical insurance policy. In other words, under ObamaCare if someone doesn’t get medical coverage and they meet certain criteria, then they will have to pay a tax penalty, and the number of people who might be in this situation is 6 million more than previously reported by the CBO.
For more information on ObamaCare, check out these sites:
Remember, Injury Victims Look to Various Insurance Policies in Damages Coverage
In accident and injury situations, the innocent person will have damages covered by various policies and people, depending upon the situation that they are facing. If, for example, they are hurt working on the job, then workers’ compensation may cover their medical expenses, long term care needs, medications, etc. Each state has its own set of workers’ compensation laws that have been passed by the state to protect people who are injured on the job.
For some employees, special laws exist that apply instead of the general workers’ compensation laws. For example, railroad workers are covered by a federal law, the Federal Employees Liability Act (FELA). A man or woman who who spends at least 30% of his or her workday onboard either a specific vessel or a fleet of vessels under common ownership or control may have their on the job injuries covered by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.
If someone is injured or killed in an accident with a big rig, semi-truck (18-wheeler), then the insurance policy of both the trucking company, the truck driver, and the owner of the cargo being hauled that set up the load for transport, or the construction company that was doing repairs on the roadway at the time, may be covering the damages costs of the accident victim. In trucking accidents, claims may be made against several defendants who share some fault for the accident.
Insurance issues can get complicated quickly, and there can be fights between insurance carriers about which policy should cover what damage in certain situations, but for the personal injury victim the issue is justice and the wrongdoer is responsible for their negligent, grossly negligent, or intentional bad act.
