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"This firm carries out a steady stream of transactions and earns respect on everything-anything from plain vanilla corporate revolver credits to highly structured financings in the energy industry. It earns significant praise from the market for an enviable stable of lender clients, a team admired for its “terrific and approachable people” and its “willingness to burn the midnight oil .” Clients say that not only do they have “an excellent knowledge base” to draw upon, but they also emphasize “great client service” and a “cost-effective allocation of attorneys to a deal
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approachable people” and its “willingness to burn the midnight oil .” Clients say that not only do they have “an excellent knowledge base” to draw upo
Tracy Davis and The Attorneys of Bracewell & Giuliani
“One of the top oil and gas finance practices around .”
"This firm carries out a steady stream of transactions and earns respect on everything-anything from plain vanilla corporate revolver credits to highly structured financings in the energy industry. It earns significant praise from the market for an enviable stable of lender clients, a team admired for its “terrific and approachable people” and its “willingness to burn the midnight oil .” Clients say that not only do they have “an excellent knowledge base” to draw upon, but they also emphasize “great client service” and a “cost-effective allocation of attorneys to a deal
The Basics
Employers grab accident victims' cash
Wal-Mart's health plan sued an ex-worker, brain-damaged in a crash, to collect money from a settlement she'd received. It's part of a trend in which companies aggressively try to recoup insurance costs.
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By The Wall Street Journal
A collision with a tractor-trailer seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved.
After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Deborah Shank's care.
Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Deborah's former employer, Wal-Mart Stores.
Two years ago, the retail giant's health plan sued the Shanks for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care. A federal judge ruled last year in Wal-Mart's favor, backed by an appeals-court decision in August. Now, Deborah's family has to rely on Medicaid and her Social Security payments to keep up her round-the-clock care.
"I don't understand why they need to do this," says Jim Shank on a recent visit to the nursing home, between shifts as a maintenance worker and running a tanning salon. "This girl needs the money more than they do."
Deborah, who needs help with eating and other basic tasks, has spent more time alone since Jim had to let her private caregiver go. At some point, he says, she may have to be moved from a private to a semiprivate room in the nursing home where she lives.
The reason is a clause in Wal-Mart's health plan that Deborah Shank didn't notice when she started stocking shelves at a nearby store eight years ago. Like most company health plans, Wal-Mart's reserves the right to recoup the medical expenses it paid for someone's treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit.
Deborah and Jim Shank © Vanessa Fuhrmans / The Wall Street Journal
Two years ago, Wal-Mart's health plan sued Deborah and Jim Shank for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care.
Going after the money
Until recently, many employers didn't vigilantly enforce the provision, and some states and federal courts didn't think the claim held water. But as the cost of covering workers continues to escalate, employers and health plans are getting more aggressive about going after the money. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year also has given them a clearer legal map to suing employees and winning.
In insurance circles, the recovery practice is called "subrogation." Employers and insurers say it's necessary to ensure that medical expenses aren't paid twice. By recovering those costs from someone who's been compensated elsewhere, they argue, they're saving money for everyone on the plan.
Sharon Weber, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, declined to discuss the details of the Shanks' case, but she said the company was obliged to act in the interest of the health benefits of its employees as a whole. "While the case involves a tragic situation, our responsibility is to follow the provisions of the (company health) plan which governs the health benefits of our associates," she said.
"Employers are trying to make sure these plans run as efficiently as possible," says Jay Kirschbaum, a senior vice president at global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings. "They also have a fiduciary duty to the plan and the entire group of employees that are covered by it."
The recovery practice
Already, the recovery practice is one of the variables that plaintiffs lawyers are considering as they decide whether it's in their clients' interests to participate in the $5 billion offered by Merck to settle lawsuits over its painkiller Vioxx.
Health plans recovered sizable amounts for medical expenses from other big product-liability settlements, such as for the "fen-phen" diet-drug combination and Sulzer Orthopedics' hip implants. Many insurers and the employer plans they administer are expected to pursue a piece of the Vioxx settlement.
“One of the top oil and gas finance practices around .”
"This firm carries out a steady stream of transactions and earns respect on everything-anything from plain vanilla corporate revolver credits to highly structured financings in the energy industry. It earns significant praise from the market for an enviable stable of lender clients, a team admired for its “terrific and approachable people” and its “willingness to burn the midnight oil .” Clients say that not only do they have “an excellent knowledge base” to draw upon, but they also emphasize “great client service” and a “cost-effective allocation of attorneys to a deal
The Basics
Employers grab accident victims' cash
Wal-Mart's health plan sued an ex-worker, brain-damaged in a crash, to collect money from a settlement she'd received. It's part of a trend in which companies aggressively try to recoup insurance costs.
advertisement
Article Tools
* E-mail to a friend
* Tools Index
* Print-friendly version
* Site Map
* Article Index
* Discuss in a Message Board
* Digg This
By The Wall Street Journal
A collision with a tractor-trailer seven years ago left 52-year-old Deborah Shank permanently brain-damaged and in a wheelchair. Her husband, Jim, and three sons found a small source of solace: a $700,000 accident settlement from the trucking company involved.
After legal fees and other expenses, the remaining $417,000 was put in a special trust. It was to be used for Deborah Shank's care.
Instead, all of it is now slated to go to Deborah's former employer, Wal-Mart Stores.
Two years ago, the retail giant's health plan sued the Shanks for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care. A federal judge ruled last year in Wal-Mart's favor, backed by an appeals-court decision in August. Now, Deborah's family has to rely on Medicaid and her Social Security payments to keep up her round-the-clock care.
"I don't understand why they need to do this," says Jim Shank on a recent visit to the nursing home, between shifts as a maintenance worker and running a tanning salon. "This girl needs the money more than they do."
Deborah, who needs help with eating and other basic tasks, has spent more time alone since Jim had to let her private caregiver go. At some point, he says, she may have to be moved from a private to a semiprivate room in the nursing home where she lives.
The reason is a clause in Wal-Mart's health plan that Deborah Shank didn't notice when she started stocking shelves at a nearby store eight years ago. Like most company health plans, Wal-Mart's reserves the right to recoup the medical expenses it paid for someone's treatment if the person also collects damages in an injury suit.
Deborah and Jim Shank © Vanessa Fuhrmans / The Wall Street Journal
Two years ago, Wal-Mart's health plan sued Deborah and Jim Shank for the $470,000 it had spent on her medical care.
Going after the money
Until recently, many employers didn't vigilantly enforce the provision, and some states and federal courts didn't think the claim held water. But as the cost of covering workers continues to escalate, employers and health plans are getting more aggressive about going after the money. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year also has given them a clearer legal map to suing employees and winning.
In insurance circles, the recovery practice is called "subrogation." Employers and insurers say it's necessary to ensure that medical expenses aren't paid twice. By recovering those costs from someone who's been compensated elsewhere, they argue, they're saving money for everyone on the plan.
Sharon Weber, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, declined to discuss the details of the Shanks' case, but she said the company was obliged to act in the interest of the health benefits of its employees as a whole. "While the case involves a tragic situation, our responsibility is to follow the provisions of the (company health) plan which governs the health benefits of our associates," she said.
"Employers are trying to make sure these plans run as efficiently as possible," says Jay Kirschbaum, a senior vice president at global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings. "They also have a fiduciary duty to the plan and the entire group of employees that are covered by it."
The recovery practice
Already, the recovery practice is one of the variables that plaintiffs lawyers are considering as they decide whether it's in their clients' interests to participate in the $5 billion offered by Merck to settle lawsuits over its painkiller Vioxx.
Health plans recovered sizable amounts for medical expenses from other big product-liability settlements, such as for the "fen-phen" diet-drug combination and Sulzer Orthopedics' hip implants. Many insurers and the employer plans they administer are expected to pursue a piece of the Vioxx settlement.
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