The issue of whether a healthcare service's charges are reasonable arises when a healthcare provider and payor have not agreed on a negotiated payment rate for a service. Reasonableness of healthcare charges are at issue in some personal injury cases as well as commercial litigation and can effect the economic damages in the case. [...]
Future medical expenses are often the largest element of economic damages in personal injury cases. The testimony of life care planners for the plaintiff and defendant can greatly influence the jury. Here are nine key questions you should ask any life care planner.
The injuries in many Texas personal Injury cases are work-related. Because Texas employers do not have to carry workers’ compensation, defendants cannot be sure if an injured worker is covered and may not take all necessary steps to obtain the workers’ compensation claim file. The claim file will often have medical and vocational information of great value to the defendant on liability and damages. This blog post discusses why it is highly probable there is a workers’ compensation claim file and why it can be important in defending a claim.
Whether you operate a physician practice, a chiropractic clinic, a therapy practice, or an imaging center, it is important to understand how your billed charges compare to the charges of other similar providers in your area. In this post, we discuss five reasons it is increasingly crucial to know how your charges compare to standard benchmarks.
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines chronic pain as “pain that persists beyond the normal time of healing, usually more than three months.” Over 25 percent of the US population has chronic pain of various degrees, and older individuals have a higher prevalence of chronic pain. Roughly 20 percent of outpatient complaints in clinics are pain related, and more than half of patients who see their primary care provider do so for pain. Overall, the costs associated with pain management are higher than the combined expenses related to diabetes, cardiac disease, and cancer. In this blog, we will discuss the alternatives to opioids for chronic pain control.
This blog post focuses on damages a plaintiff can recover for past medical expenses in personal injury cases in Texas courts. To recover for past medical expenses in a Texas personal injury case, the plaintiff must prove the past medical expenses were medically necessary due to the injury that is the subject of the litigation. The plaintiff must also prove the reasonable value of the past medical expenses. We discuss how the courts define reasonable value.
This whitepaper focuses on damages a plaintiff can recover for past medical expenses in personal injury cases in Texas courts. We note damages for future medical expenses raise different issues and that discussion is outside the scope of this paper.
Plaintiffs in Texas personal injury cases may only recover the reasonable value of the past medical expenses. However, Texas courts have held that billed charges are largely unrelated to the reasonable value of the services. The negotiated rates of providers and health plans in a medical market or rates set by government are all relevant evidence of reasonable value. This blog post discusses the ability of defendants in personal injury litigation to obtain evidence on the reasonable value of medical services through discovery
This blog discusses post-COVID-19 syndrome, also known as Long COVID, and raises questions about how it will affect personal injury litigation. It also discusses the impacts of Long COVID on the economy and labor market, and outlines ways employers might accommodate those with Long COVID to keep them in their jobs for the benefit of both the employee and the employer.
RPC is expanding its services to attorneys with personal injury cases in Louisiana. While we have worked on many cases involving Louisiana residents suing in Texas or federal courts, we have worked on many fewer cases tried under Louisiana law. So RPC consultants will know the differences in Texas and Louisiana law on damages in personal injury cases, we retained Spencer King, an attorney with the firm of King & Jurgens, LLC, to prepare a memorandum for our internal use.