Insurance Legal News Articles & Interviews

Santa Clara, CA Patients treated at ER, sometimes for minor issues, say they aren’t told their insurance is out-of-network and that emergency room fees, including certain tests and procedures, will wind up costing them thousands and thousands of dollars.

Arley, AL Catrina arrived at the hospital emergency room bent over in pain--three days later she was sent home after having her gallbladder removed. The surgery went well--until the bills arrived. Particularly galling was a CT Scan charge about three times more than the national average cost--a typical example of ER overcharges. (Granted, scans are typically more expensive when ordered in an ER.) Her total bill rings in at 86,381.04.

Albany, NY  On May 18, New York Senate Bill 6813 (S6813) was referred to the Senate Insurance Committee. If enacted into law, it would add a new Section 2601-a to the New York Insurance law. Proponents of the legislation see an opportunity to address the problem of insurance companies’ bad faith insurance claim practices. Detractors predict the opening of the proverbial floodgates to insurance lawsuits. Similar legislation has died in committee before.

Houston, TX Nick was working at his home office when he suddenly felt the left side of his body go numb and a searing pain in his lower back. “Thank God my wife was home. She drove me to the nearest urgent care center but a sign on the door said it was “running at capacity” and couldn’t see any patients that day,” says Nick. “We googled the nearest emergency room—at this point I was almost passing out. And I almost passed out two weeks later when my ER bill came in the mail. I’d heard about ER overcharges but this was ridiculous!”

Santa Clara, CA Many emergency room overcharges complaints submitted to LawyersandSettlements are so outrageous they seem fictional. Sadly, they are true. In each complaint below, the patient’s bill isn’t even close to the “going rate”.

Los Angeles, CA Attorney Barry Kramer may be able to get your emergency room services reduced, but his goal is to change the hospital system and stop ER overcharges for everyone. If you think your hospital has overcharged you for their services and you’re willing to go the distance, and if you want to make a difference and help others, read on.

San Francisco, CA On February 24, victims of deadly 2017 and 2018 California wildfires filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court seeking to hold former officers and directors of PG&E liable for failing to protect them from the harm that followed from the 2018 Camp Fire and the 2017 North Bay Fires. In addition to devastating personal and property loss, many California homeowners whose homes were burned also found themselves the victims of bad faith insurance denials. Justice John Trotter (Ret.), Trustee of the PG &E Fire Victim Trust v. Lewis Chew seeks to redress these harms in a direct way – by suing those responsible for putting corporate profits and their own financial interest ahead of their fiduciary duty to protect public safety.

San Francisco, CA In May 2020, the California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to State Farm Insurance Co. Leonard and Patricia Fadeeff challenged the insurer’s denial of their claim for damage to their home in the 2015 Valley Fire. Fadeeff v. State Farm continues to be a seminal case in California bad faith insurance denial lawsuits.

Detroit, MI Tenet Healthcare was accused of acting with malice when a Michigan hospital demoted two cardiologists after the complained about cost-cutting measures, overcharging and substandard patient care. The doctors filed a False Claims lawsuit and retaliation is costly—to the tune of $10.6M.

Santa Clara, CA Proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT) is purportedly a safer and more effective cancer treatment than x-ray or photon-based treatments and less invasive than surgery, but some insurance companies deny coverage, which has led to bad faith insurance lawsuits.