Archive for the ‘Colorado’ Category

President-Elect Kenneth Levine and Amicus Committee Chair Daran Kiefer spent Monday February 22nd in Colorado with several NASP members and industry lobbyists testifying in opposition to House bill 1168. During the eight hours at the Capital, the parties supporting this bill agreed to several amendments. First, the bill was amended to eliminate property, workers’ compensation and auto subrogation from its reach. As for health subrogation, the proposed amendments require the injured party to provide information about the settlement and available limits. The amended bill calls for a rebuttable presumption of “full compensation” when insurance limits are not received. The amended bill also provides that a party’s full compensation value is equal to any jury award. The health subrogation industry will be impacted if this bill passes and becomes law in Colorado. The House Judiciary Committee approved the measure 10-0 with one abstention.

By Mark Hillman

If there’s one thing personal injury lawyers are especially good at, it’s exploiting the misfortunes of their clients while devising new ways to line their own pockets.

Colorado House Bill 1168 is this year’s prime example. While claiming to help injured parties receive full compensation for damages caused by the fault of someone else, what it really does is guarantee that the injured person, in order to be fully compensated, must hire a lawyer. Read more

Subrogation rights are again in danger in Colorado with the introduction of H.B. 10-1168. This bill essentially undoes healthcare subrogation while codifying the “made whole” and “common fund” doctrines into law. The proposed bill will certainly have a devastating effect on healthcare, workers compensation and UM insurance subrogation, but other auto and property subrogation rights will also be greatly impacted whenever there is a personal injury suffered in the same loss. The most dramatic aspect of the proposed bill is that carriers cannot bring direct subrogation actions in such instances. Read more

by Glorianna Scott, Denver Legal News Examniner, www.examiner.com

Colorado State Representative Christine Scanlan is expected to sponsor a bill to increase statutory caps on medical malpractice lawsuits. A similar bill, sponsored by Representative Terrance Carroll, failed last year. With only five weeks left in this session, Scanlan’s bill may be difficult to pass, but here’s why it should pass anyway: Read more

Colorado:

June 5, 2008, Colorado Governor, Bill Ritter approved Senate Bill 11, abolishing subrogation for all medical payment coverage under auto insurance policies to be in effect of January 1, 2009.  The new Colorado law will be in effect as of January 1, 2009. Read more