2nd Circuit Won't Change NY's Apportionment Method
Recent Cases
The 2nd Circuit denied a voter's assertion that New York's method of congressional district apportionment should be changed from overall population to voting-age population.
Michael Kalson sued Gov. David Paterson and the state election board. Kalson claimed his vote didn't count as much as those of voters in other congressional districts with a smaller percentage of adults.
Judge Calabresi agreed with the trial court that Kalson's claim lacked merit.
The judge noted that Kalson does not assert that "districts must be comprised of the same number of actual voters or eligible voters; he asserts only that they must have the same voting-age population."
Although one district may have a more adults than another, the second district could have a lower percentage of felons, noncitizens, and people who choose not to vote, Calabresi noted.
For that reason, the judge ruled, the plaintiff's request for a voting-age requirement would not remedy his complaint.
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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.