Justices Meet Early for Campaign-Finance Case
National News
According to Courthouse News, the Supreme Court ended its summer recess early this year to consider a case that could decide the future of campaign-finance law. The justices will decide whether a conservative nonprofit group should have been blocked from showing a scathing political documentary called "Hillary:The Movie" before the 2008 primary elections.
The Supreme Court will hear arguments in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, in which the corporate nonprofit appeals the commission's decision to block the film from pay-per-view TV before the 2008 campaign.
The film's makers called the commission's decision a violation of their free speech. The movie features various pundits and politicos discussing Clinton's bid for the presidency.
"We must never underestimate this woman," one commentator says. "We must never understate her chances of winning. And we must never forget the fundamental danger that this woman poses to every value that we hold dear."
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.