Author Archives: Christopher Hopkins
Was MMSEA All a Big Conspiracy While Insurance Lobbyists Were Sleeping?
An interesting theory proposed by the “official” Medicare Set Aside Blog (HINT: not really official…) is that the insurance industry did not react strongly to MMSEA since they never saw it coming. The concept was that the bill was hustled through during the holiday season and everyone missed it. The conspiracy is here.
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October 22 Teleconference
CMS continues their string of telephone “town hall” conferences on MMSEA requirements, including on last week. Orlando, Florida-based Lien Settlement Solutions provided a nice summary of the discussion about the confusion over liability MSA, which we addressed in our prior post about AAJ’s August letter to members of the plaintiff bar.
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First DCA Decides MSA “Seed Money” Case
The First District recently declined to re-write a settlement agreement involving terms of a Medicare Set-Aside Account (MSA) in Mary A. Ferreira v. Home Depot / Sedgwick CMS (Per Curiam) [1st DCA June 9, 09] In this workers compensation case, the claimant, not the employer-carrier, was responsible for administering the MSA. The E/C was supposed [...]
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U.S. v. Harris: First Case on Attorney Liability for Failure to Pay Medicare
After even a short period of time studying the Medicare Secondary Payer Statute (MSPS) or MMSEA, your research will lead you to a federal district court order involving a lawyer being held liable for failure to repay Medicare. It’s a case worth discussing and understanding as it may be the beginning of a precedent. The [...]
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Recommended Reading: Six Things To Know About Medicare Lien
Whether you are plaintiff or defendant, consider reading Steve Mehta’s “Six Thing That You Must Know About Medicare Reimbursement Rights: The Medicare Super Lien.” Great read and perfect insight. Some quick highlights of the issues: 1. Medicare must be paid within 60 days of resolution 2. If Plaintiff does not pay, the Defendant is on [...]
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Significance of AAJ’s August 2009 Emergency Memo on MMSEA and MSA?
Several weeks ago, there was a ruffle of attention paid to MMSEA and Medicare Set Aside (MSA) when Anthony Tarricone, president of the American Association for Justice, penned an August 11, 2009 “Emergency Medicare Set Aside Information” memo to AAJ members, which consist of plaintiff and consumer advocate lawyers. The Memo is available on the [...]
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MRC’s White Paper / Powerpoint Summarizes MMSEA
A fairly solid summary of MMSEA and its reporting requirements has been cogently put into a “white paper” (more accurately, a Powerpoint) by Medical Research Consultants. Their website is here, press release is here, and the powerpoint is here.
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CMS’ MMSEA Webpage Updated Twice in Late September 2009
The federal government’s homepage for MMSEA information was updated twice in the last week of September 2009. Here are the changes: September 28, 2009 Added new information to the GHP and NGHP pages regarding RRE use of Agents. For the GHP page, see the section titled New Section 111 Provisions For GHP Arrangements, found at U.S.C. 1395y(b)(7). [...]
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Hello world!
A few months ago, the issue of the “new” Medicare regulations arose. Turns out, there not so new. But they are “new” to a lot of practicing lawyers — plaintiff and defense — as well as mediators, general counsel and insurers. If you research these issues on the internet, your stuck with either (1) government [...]
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Well if MMSEA isn’t the result of a Conspiracy, is it Just Y2K-like Hand-Wringing?