Injury Attorney Shares Concerns Over Obamacare Law Ruling and Plaintiff's Recovery in California Tort Accident Cases

LOS ANGELES, CA, July 02, 2012

Ehline Law Firm, PC, attorney Michael Ehline has concerns about the U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare".) Accident attorney Ehline says it appears that more and more people will be going into the inferior government run insurance plans, rather than treating with private lien doctors willing to get paid after the case is resolved, for example.

Attorney Ehline said he has reviewed the pertinent parts of the ruling, and said he understands the ruling was based on the authority of Congress to levy taxes under the constitution, regardless of the fact the legislation itself specifically says it is not a tax. This is how it was justified, the universal mandate that got around the commerce clause. But Ehline says the recent California Howell case (52 Cal.4th 541), combined with Obamacare could spell disaster for injury victims' court recoveries.

Is the Combination of Howell and Obamacare the Death of the Collateral Source Rule for CA?

Under California law, the recent Howell case says that a plaintiff is limited in his or her economic losses, to what was paid by insurance, not the actual cost. In other words, a plaintiff's recovery is now limited in California, to the reduced amount actually paid to the doctor by the insurance company, not the fair market value. Many plaintiff's lawyers agree, said Ehline, that this violates the "collateral source" rule, that a plaintiff paid premiums for this coverage, and that plaintiff should not be limited to what was actually paid, but what the value of the care was. In any event, the California Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of insurance companies.

The Howell case comes out of a tort case, involving a near-fatal car accident involving a California woman who got hit by a meat truck that had made an illegal U-turn in San Diego County. Plaintiff Howell's medical bills were about $190,000. She had a spinal fusion surgery and physical therapy, etc., but the court only allowed the jury to consider $60,000 of the bills as economic damages, being considered for damages; which was the actual amount that Howell's health insurance company paid after negotiating reductions with the treating hospital.

Ehline says the ruling means that car accident victims, slip and fall, bicycle and motorcycle crash victims in California, will not be able to receive full compensation catastrophic injuries, and the magnitude of the devastation in the bill totals can be made to look de-minimus by a smart insurance company that strong arms hospitals into taking less than owed, said attorney Ehline.

Enter Obama Care

The Los Angeles attorney said that the Obamacare decision did not surprise him, and said, "there are parts of the bill that are good for people, including not being penalized for pre-existing medical conditions." Ehline said that as a rule, the Supreme Court has not overturned acts of Congress, unless there is a radical case, such as the Dredd Scott case that upheld racism, that was clearly in error. This he said, is due to the fact that they are unwilling to overturn congressional endorsements, due to the separation of powers doctrine. The President has pushed for this Act and congress approved.

Ehline said that this Act will have an impact on California's state budget, but more importantly he is concerned about the funds that were taken from Medicare and requiring people to buy insurance; and/or requiring successful people to pay for everyone else, encourages people to leave the U.S. while they still have money.

Attorney Ehline, an inactive U.S. Marine, said he is concerned about losing liberty that has been hard fought for, with the upholding of this bill that took approximately $500 billion from Medicare, and people are being told they have a mandate to buy health insurance. Worse, is the potential combined effect on plaintiff's recovery with the Howell case, once Obamacare is fully in play. "just think how difficult, if not impossible it will be to get a lien reduction from the IRS (the agency responsible for enforcement of Obamacare) on behalf of your client, when there is a small liability policy and big injuries", Ehline said.

"Typically, when a private doctor works on a lien, and there is not enough insurance money, private doctors will quickly agree to lien reductions, so the client isn't left with nothing. "With government red tape, and tenured bureaucrats who could care less about their reputation with the public, I fear those days are over", said Ehline. "Have you been to the DMV lately?" asked Ehline when describing an example of most government run agencies.

He said, he has compassion for people, and does not want anyone to be without medical care, but this is not the way it should be done, and he believes that there is no concern about the constitution anymore. He feels executive orders are just being made for political purposes and is concerned about employers not increasing hiring, because of the extra costs. Less jobs means less cars on the road and less accidents. "Great for some, but definitely not a happy thing for the plaintiff's bar that traditionally supports socialism and social engineering", said Ehline. "The chickens may have come home to roost for the plaintiff's bar", he said.

Ehline is not alone in his concerns about the U.S. Supreme Court decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on many levels. "The fact is was presented as not being a tax, then upheld on the basis it is a tax, makes the president and the Pelosi congress look like snake oil salesmen", said attorney Ehline. The American public, other attorneys and state representatives are speaking out, about this ruling and the fact that people will be required to buy insurance and how the Howell case will effect recovery of damages in accident type claims.

This ruling could also result in expanded Medicaid costs, lower California plaintiff's awards, and it could affect what the state will need to spend, attorney Ehline said. The number of people in this program that may not have been on it, except for factors that led them to join, will be an added cost to the state and the federal match has been reduced, due to average incomes going up.

The conclusion is that Obamacare combined with the Howell case are not good for tort victims, or the economy, and country as a whole. Ehline said if you want to discuss this further and present your point of view, to join him at the Ehline Law Website. Or you can contact him at G+, or 213.596.9642.

Sources:

http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/revpub/D053620.PDF

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf