Your Problem Solvers, LLC.

I'm not sure where to start, so I'll just start.

One of the pitfalls of practicing law for 30 years was that I got staid in the way I speak and write. Maybe "precise" is a nicer way to say it. I had to be precise--there were strict rules to follow and time limits to comply with. Otherwise, I got into trouble with a court system and, if not done right, a client could suffer. Not a good outcome.

I had to retire for health reasons, and boy, has it opened up my eyes to myriad of dilemmas that people have to deal with day in and day out. They don't always know how to deal with them, they may not have the time to deal with them, or they may just get fed up with the red tape of dealing with them. It was one thing to represent a client in a lawsuit against, for example, an insurance company for policy benefits. At least then, there were "formal rules of engagement"--court rules, the necessity of contacting only your opponent's lawyer, rather than the insurance company itself and sitting on hold for 30 minutes. In that sense, it was a great deal easier.

One of the things that happened to me because of my illness
was that I was on the front end of having to deal with not just the illness, but with all that comes with it--getting diagnoses, treatment, hospitalizations, insurance, billings-the whole gamut of stuff. And that doesn't even consider the long recovery from the medical problem such as finding professionals to help with that. I had a little head start because I had a more broad understanding of how the system worked, but even at that, once I was a patient, I could not call the shots (no pun intended).

I was not the only one affected by the medical problem. My wife and son had to do a yeoman's task of picking up the slack-and they still do. Most physicians and medical-like people do a great job in fixing the patient to the extent that he/she can be fixed. But my experience is that the families often do not know what to expect--either from the standpoint of changes in the physical condition, personality or behavior of the person with the medical problem, or the issues that follow a major life upheaval--total unemployment, an inability to resume former employment, the difficulties of "reinventing" oneself, dealing with ongoing treatment and therapy, finding resources in the community to help, insurance, creditors and similar.

Insurance is complicated to say the least. There are many kinds of insurance that you do not HAVE to have (although it might be a good idea to have it), but there are other types that you are required by law to have. Here in FL, one of those is a form of auto insurance called Personal Injury Protection (PIP). It covers the driver/occupants of a vehicle for their own medical bills regardless of fault for the collision. Other states have their own form of it, sometimes called by another name.
PIP coverage in FL has been subject of a lot of abuse over the years, in part because some healthcare providers used up the $10,000 coverage for treatment that was "questionable". In turn, that had an impact on premiums-it tended to increase them.
The Legislature revised the PIP law to require injured people to seek medical care within 14 days after an incident; before, there was no time requirement. There were other changes, too.
A recent case upheld those changes. It is attached for those who want to read it.http://opinions.1dca.org/written/opinions2013/10-23-2013/13-1355.pdf

http://opinions.1dca.org/written/opinions2013/10-23-2013/13-1355.pdf

We recently had the pleasure of helping a man who was not able to clearly communicate due to a stroke-he had aphasia . He had very limited income because he was unable to work. The bank that had his mortgage and other creditors kept calling but no one took the time to work with him due to his speech problem. We were able to step in, write letters, and be his "voice box". The results were favorable--and he deserved it!