Medical Coverage
Clients may encounter unexpected charges and denials of coverage. Deciding whether to fight or pay causes anxiety to many patients. Acquiescing to an undesirable treatment plan, or paying unreasonable charges is hardly ever a good plan.
Some providers try to collect additional money (the "balance") after the patient has already met their deductible and co-payments are current. Balance billing is illegal in California.
It is important to review each health care plan carefully. Grievance procedures should ordinarily be followed. But if the patient's condition is rapidly deteriorating, one should demand an "expedited" determination of coverage. Read more >>
Privacy
Since 1972 California's Constitution has guaranteed the individual's right to privacy. But "zones" of privacy are sometimes ill-defined. Social and cultural differences can blur expectations of individual privacy.
Disparity of power between parties can impair the weaker individual's ability to resist abusive conduct. Violations of privacy often occur before the victim realizes they are a victim.
To clarify boundaries, California's legislature continuously enacting statutes to clarify boundaries. For example: there are lawsto prevent elder abuse ( Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15600 et seq), laws to protect confidentiality of mental health records ( Welf & Inst. Code §§ 5328 et seq),laws to protect employees ( Cal. Civ. Code §§ 56.20-56.245) laws to protect children ( Pen. Code §§ 11164 et seq), and laws to minimize intrusiveness of the insurance business (Ins. Code §§ 791-791.2). Read more >>
Medical Records
A broad array of federal and California laws governs access, distribution, use and confidentiality of medical records. Federal HIPAA Privacy laws pertain to "personal health information" collected by "covered entities," California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) governs disclosure of "medical information" and the Information Practices Act (IPA) pertains to records maintained by California state agencies.
State laws can protect privacy even more rigorously than HIPAA, and California has extended such privacy protection further than any othe state. For example, California fines employees at health care facilities who snoop into records of patients not under their care.
State laws can give patients broad access to records provided they do not interfere with HIPAA's minimum procedurs. California has multiple procedures for copying records. Read more >>
Caregiver Support
Caregivers are at risk of burnout. Virtually all seniors want to live at home as long as possible. But as the need elder needs increasing care, financial and emotional strain emerges.
Legal counsel can help famlies and friends evaluate their future options. The process begins with deciding who makes the final decision. As long as the person has mental capacity to communicate their wishes, he or she has the legal authority to decide where to live.
Whether the family has sufficient resources to pay for extra help, or whether they should apply for public benefits like Medi-Cal, is a difficult choice. No matter how unpleasant family negotiations might be, working things out in advance is preferable to arguing in the courtroom years later. Read more >>
Medical Malpractice
The time-frame for investigating a potential law suit is extremely short. Generally, an adult plaintiff must file suit within one year from "discovery" of an injury and within three years from injury. Each MICRA defendant must also be given 90 day's notice of intent to sue before the claim is filed.
Since 1976, health-care-provider defendants have been protected by the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). Such defendants include physicians, nurses, chiropractors, dentists, mental health professionals, pharmacists, etc.
Regardless of how badly a person is hurt, defendants cannot be forced to pay more than $250,000 for pain and sufferingand punitive damage awards are extremely rare. Read more >>
Scope of Practice
To ensure that clients receive high quality services, Ms. Darnall's practice focuses on health related matters described above. Litigation cases are shared with co-counsel. Read more >>
