Events
Duane Morris Partner Philip Matthews to Discuss "Navigating Your Way Through the New Developments in Medicare: The Impact of Medicare Reporting Rules on Asbestos Litigation"
January 26, 2012 | Philadelphia
| The Union League
Duane Morris partner Philip Matthews will be a panelist at the American Conference Institute's 12th Annual Advanced Forum on Asbestos Claims and Litigation. Mr. Matthews will be discussing the topic of "Navigating Your Way Through the New Developments in Medicare: The Impact of Medicare Reporting Rules on Asbestos Litigation" on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 5:25 p.m. to conclude the first day of this two-day conference.
With excessive verdicts and other developments prominent around the nation, insurers have shifted their approach to managing asbestos claims, especially in light of shrinking legal budgets and evolving roles in claims management. Now more than ever, premise owners and contractors are being held liable for asbestos exposure. Asbestos exposure reaches not only the worker on site but to secondary exposure, bystander exposure and take-home exposure claims. Furthermore, solvent manufacturers are no longer the sole defendant in law suits. Now plaintiffs are filing suit against mom-and-pop type suppliers, distributors and retailers, therefore directly impacting the strategy of cases from filing suit to maximizing the verdict as well as the managing and defense of these asbestos claims.
In addition, the evolution of science and medicine have forced practitioners to take a sophisticated medical approach to retaining the right expert witness, reviewing the exposure evidence and evaluating current medical theories to support or defend an asbestos exposure claim. The traditional asbestos exposure allegation has all but nearly dissolved and now theories such as the "every fiber v. the every exposure" have taken hold as the prevailing scientific theories on threshold levels and exposures.
The event will provide industry-leading strategies associated with each and every asbestos-related disease. Now in its 12th installment, the Asbestos Claims and Litigation Conference is known around the industry as the essential forum that shapes the future of litigation and coverage strategies for outside counsel and in-house counsel, claims handlers, administrators and risk managers. This year's revamped faculty of distinguished in-house professionals and outside counsel, as well as renowned jurists, will provide even the most seasoned asbestos attorneys with clarity and certainty with respect to today's most crucial issues.
Topics covered in the session on "Navigating Your Way Through the New Developments in Medicare: The Impact of Medicare Reporting Rules on Asbestos Litigation" include:
- Navigating the waters created with Medicare reporting requirements.
- How the Medicare Secondary Payer Act impacts the litigation and how to address federal requirements.
- Compliance with Section 111 Medicare Secondary Payer reporting and reimbursement obligations.
- How to deal with the new Medicare law and releases. It seems everyone has a different opinion on the subject.
- Medicare issues: where do we stand now in addressing Medicare issues from the settlement to bankruptcy trusts?
- Finalizing settlements—disputes over when the money should be released and who should be responsible if asbestos-related medical expenses are incurred in the future.
- Medicare related release language issues.
- Developments in litigation and cases such as Stricker.
For additional information about the conference, or to register, please visit the ACI website.
