Monthly Archives: April 2008

Workers’ Health Insurance Costs Soar

Written On April 30, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times had a good article on the outrageous cost of health insurance, especially relative to inflation. As a small-business owner, I struggle with this issue every year. Each time we come up for renewal, I am forced to increase our deductibles or reduce our benefits in order to keep the costs of [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Insurance Information

One More Post About Minimum Auto Insurance Limits

Written On April 29, 2008 By Bob Kraft

This is the official news release from the Texas Department of Insurance about the recent increase in auto liability limits:
Minimum Auto Liability Insurance Limits to Increase on April 1
AUSTIN – The minimum amount of automobile liability insurance Texas
drivers are required to carry for bodily injury/property damage will
increase on April 1 from the current $20,000/$40,000/$15,000
(“20/40/15”) coverage [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

Studies On Chemical In Plastics Questioned – FDA

Written On April 27, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The Washington Post has an article today that illustrates the fallacy in the current trend of the Bush administration and the U.S. Supreme Court to push the doctrine of "preemption." This is the legal theory that basically states if a federal agency approves a product, then consumers are forbidden to file any claims for damages [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Tort Reform

Featured Link – FoodSafety.gov

Written On April 26, 2008 By Bob Kraft

There have been so many food recalls lately that some of us are losing weight just worrying about the safety of what we eat. The federal government has a site filled with information about food safety. There’s lots of good stuff here. Here’s the description from the site:

FoodSafety.gov is a gateway website that provides links [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Featured Link, Government

Friday Fun

Written On April 25, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Are you having a really bad day at the office? Do you feel like freaking out and trashing your cubicle? The good news is that you don’t have to do that in reality — you can do it virtually, at CubicleFreakout.

Posted in Friday Fun

Featured Link – Web 2.0 Directory

Written On April 24, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Are you one of those baffled by all the talk of Web 2.0? Here’s the Wikipedia definition:
Web 2.0 is a trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to facilitate creativity,
information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users.
These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based
communities and [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Featured Link, Internet Research or News

“Fatal” Mistakes Social Security Disability Clients Make

Written On April 24, 2008 By Bob Kraft

This is a short list of mistakes we have seen our clients make over the years. Whether you are our client, another lawyer’s client, or simply trying to represent yourself in a claim for Social Security Disability benefits, you should read this list carefully and maybe you can avoid making one of these "fatal" mistakes.
Please [...]

Posted in Social Security Disability

Reminder – Texas Auto Liability Minimum Limits Raised

Written On April 23, 2008 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written before about the woefully low minimum automobile liability insurance limits in Texas, and how they were going to changed in April 2008. Well, the time has finally come, and as of April 1, the minimum insurance
requirements were increased under the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety
Responsibility Act. This applies to policies purchased or renewed on [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Vehicle Law or News

Featured Link – Internet Crime Complaint Center

Written On April 22, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The federal government has a Web site where you can report all those
Internet scam e-mails you get every day. Not that it will do any good,
but maybe you’ll feel better after complaining. Here’s the explanation
from the Internet Crime Complaint Center:

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools, Consumer Information, Featured Link, Government

Average Processing Times For Social Security Disability Claims

Written On April 21, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The list of the most recently available average processing times for Social Security disability claims throughout the nation has been published by NOSSCR. The Dallas and Forth Worth offices rank closer to the top than to the bottom, but processing times across the country are abysmal and unfair to claimants.
The times as of the first [...]

Posted in Disability, Government, Social Security Disability

Friday Fun

Written On April 18, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Do you like computer games where you have no chance of winning? How about quizzes that make you feel stupid? You like both those things? Then you’ll just love The Impossible Quiz 2!

Posted in Friday Fun

Featured Link – Case Management Resource Guide

Written On April 15, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The Case Management Resource Guide is an online listing of  over 100,000 individual medical facilities,  programs, companies, and organizations. The site is sponsored by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Posted in Featured Link, Medical and Health Resources

Allstate Insurance Releases Documents As Ordered By Florida Court

Written On April 14, 2008 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written several times now about Allstate Insurance being banned from writing new policies in Florida until they released certain court-ordered documents. Allstate has now released those documents online.
This is going to be deathly dull to almost everyone except a few interested parties, but I’m sure there will be some juicy little nuggets that will [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

Co-Payments For Expensive Drugs Soar

Written On April 14, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Today’s New York Times carries a story about the rising costs of prescription drugs — even for people who have health insurance. The gist of it is that insurance carriers are raising the co-pay amount for the most expensive and popular drugs. Here are excerpts:
Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for [...]

Posted in Consumer Information

Beware Of A “Rootkit” Virus

Written On April 14, 2008 By Bob Kraft

These new rootkit viruses are driving people nuts. Here’s a quick tip from Tom Mighell’s Internet Legal Research Weekly:
Viruses are tricky, but rootkits are especially diabolical.  A rootkit is a program that digs deep to the root of your computer, and hides itself there.  If something is wrong with your computer and your regular troubleshooting [...]

Posted in Computer Tips, Tricks, and Tools

Friday Fun

Written On April 11, 2008 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a game that’s right from the headlines — try to snuff out the Olympic Torch to show your solidarity with Tibetan protesters!

Posted in Friday Fun

Allstate Is Again Banned From Writing Policies In Florida

Written On April 9, 2008 By Bob Kraft

In the continuing saga of Allstate Insurance and the State of Florida, the latest news is that Florida’s First District Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court
ruling, and has reinstated the prohibition on Allstate writing new insurance
policies.
The original controversy surrounded Allstate’s
refusal to comply with subpoenas regarding its property insurance
policies in Florida. The ban applies [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

Drug Makers Near Old Goal: A Legal Shield

Written On April 8, 2008 By Bob Kraft

I wrote recently about the legal doctrine of pre-emption that is threatening to steal legal rights from American consumers. Now the New York Times has published a lengthy but excellent article on the subject of the legal shield sought by drug manufacturers. Here are excerpts, but I encourage you to read the article.
The [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Prescription Drug Claims, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Tort Reform

Arthritis And Social Security Disability

Written On April 7, 2008 By Bob Kraft

According to the Arthritis Foundation, more than 27 million people are effected by Osteoarthritis and another 1.3 million people live with rheumatoid arthritis. These people can be your parents, your siblings, or even you!
Arthritis is broken up into two listings by Social Security. The first, Listing 1.02 for the Major dysfunction of a joint, covers [...]

Posted in Arthritis, Disability, Social Security Disability

Disabled Often Wait Years For Social Security Disability Payments

Written On April 6, 2008 By Bob Kraft

The Dallas Morning News today published an article decrying the absurd delay between the time a disabled person files for Social Security disability benefits and the time an Administrative Law Judge finally makes a decision on the claim. Here are excerpts from the article, headlined  “Disabled often wait years for Social Security payment“:
Now that most [...]

Posted in Social Security, Social Security Disability