In November, we took a step in the right direction. The House of Representatives passed the health care bill, "The Affordable Health Care for America Act" or  HR 3962.  This is the most significant piece of health care legislation to pass the House in the last 40 years, according to CNN’s coverage.

In our work representing persons who have suffered serious injuries as a result of another party’s negligence or carelessness, one of the problems we often encounter is that the injured person lacks insurance coverage to pay their medical bills.  This is especially hard on families who have lost the person who provided the main source of income due to their injuries.

Insurance companies sometimes refuse to pay promptly for injuries arising from medical malpractice, trucking wrecks, car wrecks or other incidents.  This delay causes injured persons to have to live on little or no income while their medical bills continue to accumulate.  This can make it difficult for injured people to obtain full compensation for the injuries because they may be forced to accept lower settlement amounts simply due to their need for money to pay their mounting medical bills. 

Hopefully some version of the health care bill will become law so injuried folks avoid this problem.