Consumers Helped by Colorado Insurance Law Changes, Says Denver Personal Injury Lawyer
May 25, 2010 (Denver, Colorado) - Denver personal injury attorney Linda J. Chalat is one of a number of Colorado trial attorneys applauding the passage of two recent bills to amend Colorado's insurance law. The first is meant to ensure that those who have suffered injuries and other damages are properly compensated by their insurance company before that insurance provider can demand repayment. The second will simplify insurance applications by standardizing them for all Colorado insurance carriers.
House Bill 10-1168 prevents insurance companies from demanding repayment of medical expenses prior to full compensation of those they cover, if the damages in question were not that person's fault. Under current "segregation rights," an insurance company can demand that an injured party repay the money spent on his care - even if the accident that caused the injury was not his fault.
"We often see individuals severely injured by others who have no or little insurance coverage. In those cases, the victim may look to his own insurance policy for coverage of medical expenses and compensation" said Linda Chalat, partner at Chalat Hatten & Koupal. "The Make Whole law provides that the injured party will only reimburse his insurance company for medical expenses after receiving money for other damages. And if the victim's insurance company does get paid back, it will share a portion of the attorney fees."
The Make Whole Doctrine already exists in one form or another in 36 other states. Colorado Governor Ritter signed the bill into law on April 28, 2010.
The second bill, HB10-1242, is part of Colorado's health care reform initiative and requires all insurance carriers to provide a standardized insurance application form for applicants.
"Up until now, people in Colorado have had to parse through long, confusing insurance applications, and to top it off, each insurance carrier would probably have a different application form," said Chalat. "The goal of the Health Insurance Carrier Bill is to ensure that everyone can understand what they are signing up for."
HB10-1242 provides for the implementation of a single, easy-to-understand application form. The system will allow health care applicants to quickly and easily compare different health care options and providers. The standardized insurance applications will be implemented in January of 2012.
