Wal-Mart - a reflection of what's wrong in this country

[Bill from NYC]

Where are my defenders?

 

Right here. I won't shop at Wal Mart because they abuse workers, sell almost entirely Chinese products, have illegal aliens doing their landscaping, and punish workers who have the nerve to want to unionize. I wonder what Hillary was doing to workers when she was on their "advisory board?" She can't tell us because she "forgot."

 

That said, people who feel like doing business at that slimy dump should certainly do so if it makes them happy, or even if they think it is OK.

[ieatcrayonz]

You've been posting an awful lot lately. Didn't you know baseball season started this week?

Every team rebuilds. Some do it right, and some don't.

[BillsFanNC]

Timeline doesn't stick. Sounds like CYA that they missed the clause.

 

According to them, Walmart didn't start pursuing the cash until well after the initial case. If her attorneys were in contact with WalMart earlier on (which should have been their job upon reading her health benefit plan, again, part of the $400K they got paid for) they would not have been so surprised when WalMart came knocking for reimbursement.

 

It wasn't WalMart's responsibility to negotiate with her lawyers, since the contract is clear that they're entitled to full reimbursement. It's not the poor woman's fault that she didn't read nor understand the fine points of her contract. It's her lawyers' fault for missing a standard clause and not protecting their client.

 

If there's a case here, it's against her lawyers for screwing up the initial case.

 

 

I don't disagree that Wal-Mart had every right to go after the full amount, my contention is that you are assuming too much in stating her lawyers screwed up. The fact is that there was legal precendent for them to have asked for a reduced lien on the settlement under the common fund doctrine. This states that the amount sought by the insurer should be reduced by the same percentage as her attorney took as compensation for working to obtain a fair settlement. Subrogation laws are complex and vary by state, her lawyers fought it and lost, but I don't feel that they screwed up.

 

I'm going to ask my attorney about this when I speak to him next time. My medical bills aren't quite what this woman had, but they are substantial and like her I have been left with permanent injuries. I have been told that it is common practice for liens against medical expenses to be reduced, I'll let you know what ends up happening in my case.

 

Like I said earlier I think the best thing to come out of this is that Wal-Mart and hopefully other health plans in the future will review these on a case by case basis. They guy who gets $500k for a broken arm, I don't think there is a problem with paying back his medical expenses. But in this case there is the letter of the law and then there is just doing the right thing.