Texas Prompt Pay Act: Doctors and Lawyers Versus Insurance Companies
Posted by
Mikal C. WattsFebruary 02, 2013 12:55 PM
In a showing of unity between two historically acrimonious professions, doctors and lawyers are working together to reshape tort law and continue to force insurance companies to promptly pay the funds due to doctors for services performed. Trial lawyers, serving as a legal voice to the heathcare community, are pursuing doctors’ claims that insurance companies are denying coverage, and failing to pay in a timely fashion for services performed to those insurance company’s customers.
Mikal Watts (inset: left), a plaintiff’s bar attorney in South Texas, is leading the charge in this fight investing millions of dollars in medical data mining software to analyze insurance claims and total cost of services due to Texas medical professionals. Although the medical profession, operating in very slim profit margins, typically does not pursue small claims and collection of small dollar amounts, when such amounts begin to stack up, the profit losses start to become immense. Watts, in commenting on the potential amount due to the Texas medical professionals, stated “in total, we already have identified hundreds of millions of dollars in amounts due to our clients.”
Although Watts represents a team of powerhouse attorneys, the fight may be further frustrated by medical companies pressuring the Texas legislature to pass upcoming healthcare and insurance reforms which would seek to limit the amount of total money that can be paid out to medical professionals by law.
In the continued fight against insurance companies for appropriate payment to doctors, and coverage of customers, attorneys can provide an important service to both groups, and work towards the payment of statutory penalties for late claims. If you are a medical professional, and believe that you are entitled to statute-mandated damages from one or more insurance companies, contacting a legal professional is the first step towards receiving your damages.