Lately, we have been getting tons of calls about traffic tickets.  That usually happens when enforcement is up since our primary business is injury cases.  Unfortunately, for those caught speeding, courts around the area are imposing harsher consequences for anyone speeding, especially those going 25mph or over the speed limit.  In the past (as outlined on our website), a person speeding typically hired an attorney and paid a higher fine to plead down any infraction to a non-moving violation, which kept points from showing on a driving record.  (Points increase insurance premiums and, if you get too many, a license can be suspended or revoked).That was in the past.  Courts are now issuing much harsher penalties because they clearly see this as an epidemic.  Some of the harsher penalties we have recently seen include forcing defendants to personally appear in court to be read the riot act by the judge, much higher fines than in the past, 20-40 hours of community services and threat of actual jail time.  Allegedly, prosecutors in Franklin, Jefferson and Warren County are recommending 1 day in jail for every mile a person was caught speeding over 100mph.  These penalties are approaching punishments we used to see when someone was charged with drinking and driving or other more serious offenses.  We recently had a client that was going 30 over on the highway and he had to complete 30 hours of community service and a defensive driving course before the prosecutor would even consider a plea deal.

In addition to the dangerous aspect of driving at such high speeds (a need for deterrence of bad conduct), prosecutors also look at Missouri case.net, which shows a person’s prior cases, including traffic tickets.  Since Missouri is divided into so many municipalities, in the past, a municipality only knew about the tickets a person had in that jurisdiction.  Now, every jurisdiction can see all the tickets a person has, which is causing prosecutors to hand out harsher punishments for repeat offenders.

Is it still worth hiring a lawyer?  Yes!  Attorneys work with prosecutors and usually get a better outcome than the defendant would get on their own, but judges and courts seem to have had enough of dangerous drivers and are sending a clear message with these sentences.  If you choose to speed, it will cost you lots of time and money and you may end up spending a night or two in jail.

Getting somewhere a few minutes sooner is definitely not worth it so SLOW DOWN!!!

Update: We wrote this before news of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and everyone else impacted by his passing.  While insurance disputes can be tough and financially disastrous, we do not condone taking these sorts of actions.

Original Article: While the public vs. private healthcare debate rages on, what many people may not know is that AI algorithms have been making healthcare decisions for many Americans and Europeans for years.  These programs decide when to deny claims or reject care human doctors recommend by requiring authorization prior to treatment.  The algorithm typically decides in less than 1 second, leaving patients to spend hours on phone calls trying to reverse the computer’s decision.

Cigna, UnitedHealthcare and Humana have been hit with class action lawsuits claiming many patients received unfair denials for care based on flawed algorithms.  Some claims state the denials were wrong 90% of the time.  That is a staggering amount of improper denials.  But more importantly for these insurers, this means they pay less, which maximizes their own profits, all to the detriment of regular people.

In October 2024, a Senate committee began investigating these wrongful denials.  The committee found that even though insurers claim the AI is not used to replace human reviewers and streamlines administration, the employees were pressured to approve whatever the AI recommended.  The committee also found that CVS/Aetna had tested two AI models, one that would “maximize savings” and one that would “maximize auto-approvals”.   It’s not hard to guess which model made more profits for the company and was ultimately adopted.

Hospitals and patients are the biggest losers when AI models are used to maximize profit.  Many rural hospitals are bearing the brunt of these denials, leading to closures all over the country, which further complicates access to care for these patients.

We experienced this issue recently in one our our cases where a large surgery center bill was denied.  As part of a personal injury case, we helped the client fight the claim that was denied 3 times by her insurer before getting her records in front of an independent doctor who immediately found the care to be reasonable and necessary.  Imagine the thousands of claims that do not get paid or treatment that is not received because a patient does not have an attorney fighting for him or her.  The insurers likely have this in mind because the worst offenders for unreasonably denying claims are Medicare Advantage plans which insure a large number of elderly people without the resources or understanding to fight the wrongful denials.  Their health suffers as a result and the insurance companies keep more money in their pockets.

Hopefully the class action cases get some traction and force the insurers to change the AI programing or use more human reviewers.  Otherwise, the government may have to step in to protect patients and provide them some fundamental rights, similar to the way the government has been helping with medical bill transparency.  We will continue to keep an eye on this topic, as we expect some progress, regardless of the outcome of the class action cases pending.

Tarun Visits Chicago

From time to time, clients call and ask which type of cases we handle.  Our practice is built on referrals from satisfied clients.  We know that if we work hard and do a good job for our clients, they will tell their friends about us.  The best compliment from a former client is that client entrusting us with the potential case of their friend or family.  Our office specializes in the following cases:

1. Personal Injury (auto collisions, trucking, motorcycle, slip and fall, dog bites)
2. Work Injuries
3. Traffic tickets and DUI/DWI

If you know someone that meets these criteria, please have them call our office.  If someone does not quite fit the above criteria, please still have the prospective referral give us a call as we can usually help the person find the right attorney via a referral.

Thank you very much to everyone who already left a review, we appreciate it!  If you have not left one and have some kind words, we would appreciate the time.