N.C. Won't Get Disabled Girl's Settlement

[The Straight Story]

N.C. Won't Get Disabled Girl's Settlement

WASHINGTON (CN) - States cannot impose liens on the lump-sum personal injury settlements of Medicaid recipients to recoup expenses, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

Though federal law requires participating states to try to recoup some of the health care expenses paid to tort victims, North Carolina drew protest for its scheme to enforce that requirement when the victim wins a settlement or judgment. Its law, Section 108A-57, allows the state to assert a lien on one-third of the recipient's settlement or the state's actual expenses, whichever is lower.

In the underlying lawsuit, the parents and legal guardian of an infant who was severely disabled during delivery won a $2.8 million medical malpractice settlement.

The child, who is described in court records as E.M.A., sustained injuries during her February 2000 birth that left her legally deaf and blind, as well as mentally retarded. E.M.A. cannot walk, sit, crawl or talk. She also has a seizure disorder and requires between 12 and 18 hours of daily nursing care.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/03/20/55898.htm

[DonB]

1. I am so sick

of these CONservative states that want to knock juriy awards down to a minor amount UNLESS;
1) they can make money on it
2) it happens to them
3) it's businesses sueing other businesses and getting FREE court time on the public's nickle
greedy sick bastards to take money from a blind, deaf, mentally disabled baby who needs healthcare daily