In continuing coverage, Business Insurance reported insurers groups and “trial attorneys represented by the American Assn. for Justice” are supporting the Strengthening Medicare and Repaying Taxpayers Act, which “would require Medicare to respond within 65 days of a party’s request for information on Medicare’s final payment demand.” The Medicare Secondary Payer System requires parties to “notify the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of all workers comp and other liability settlements or payments that involve Medicare recipients.” But according to attorney David Farber, “insurers and employers often are stymied from reaching settlements with workers comp claimants or parties to a liability claim because Medicare can take months to notify insurers and employers of its final demand.” The AAJ said “plaintiff attorneys are siding with defense attorneys as well as organizations representing their common foes, since the situation adversely affects plaintiffs.”
From the American Association for Justice news release.
