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Nevada had the problem with an ASC screwing up its sterilization procedures and causing Hepatitis in patients. The legislature took this on and came up with multiple enactments. The first is annual inspections by the state by a team that includes a nurse. The ASCs will also have to be accredited by a national agency. Also enacted were more stringent laws protecting whistleblowers. The nurses at the offending ASC were afraid to lose their jobs if they complained. The last bill allows the shutting down of an ASC if there is a public emergency and the ability to summarily suspend the license of the owner. There was no change in the caps for non economic damages in med mal cases.
California's Department of Insurance is formulating rules for insurers as to how and when they may do rescissions. The regs would only affect policies of individuals and not those via employers. The regs would not affect any HMO policy as this is regulated by a different Department. There is also a bill in the legislature to forbid the practice. The Gov vetoed a similar bill last year. The head of the Insurance Department, Steve Poizner, is running for Governor on the Republican ticket so this is very important to his race.
Florida has a new law that says insurers are no longer to send payments for out of network visits to patients and instead send them directly to the physicians. This allows the physicians to balance bill the patients for the remainder of their usual and customary charges. What happened in the past was the insurer would send the payment to the patient and the patient may not pay the physician anything. Top
The House is considering a bill that would loosen the purse strings for Vets with PTSD. They would no longer have to prove that the stress was from combat with the enemy only that it happened from something while he/she was in the military. This is a great step forward. Now if we could only do away with most of the VA so the Vets could be treated at areas near their homes it would be better and cheaper. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this
article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.