Are hospitals obligated to treat you?

One of the main arguments made by supporters of President Obama’s health care plan was that people were being refused medical treatment because of their inability to pay. A sweeping overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system was needed because people who lacked health insurance were not receiving proper medical care.

So, now that healthcare reform has passed, will everyone have access to all the services they need from hospitals, doctors and other medical professionals?

It’s too early to tell exactly how President Obama’s new health care law will affect those seeking medical treatments. First of all, very few of the provisions of the legislation have been implemented, and there is still considerable opposition to the law. In fact, efforts will surely be made to defund or repeal many of its programs altogether.

With this uncertainty, we should look at whether current healthcare laws obligate hospitals and doctors to treat those in need of care.

The 1986 Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires all hospitals to examine and stabilize anyone seeking emergency care regardless of their ability to pay.

In addition, non-profit hospitals are required to provide “community benefits” (including the treatment of poor people) as a condition of the tax-exempt status. “Participating Hospitals”, which are hospitals that accept any government funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, are also obligated to treat emergencies and active labor regardless of the patient’s insurance status or income level.

Private hospitals (“for profit” hospitals which do not receive government grants) are not required to treat all patients. They are obligated by EMTALA to examine and stabilize emergency patients, but are then allowed to transfer them to a public facility.

EMTALA’s emergency care provisions also cover individual physicians, but beyond that, the “No Duty Rule” largely governs their discretion in accepting or rejecting patients. If a doctor has not established a relationship with a patient, he is not obligated to provide non-emergency treatment to him or her.

If a “Duty Bound” relationship has been established (through the doctor either seeing the patient or having scheduled an appointment to see the patient), the doctor must continue to provide care until the relationship is ended by mutual consent.

Obama’s new health care plan is an attempt to address the difficult issue of universal access to quality medical care. Whether the new health care law is successful remains to be seen.

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Criminals have never been the sharpest knives in the drawer. We’ve all heard stories of attempted crimes thwarted by the villain’s own stupidity. With the rise of social networking, stupid criminals are being uncovered in a new way. There’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is “Facebook.”

A recent story on the popular blog Huffington Post chronicled 19 stupid criminals who were arrested because they were more concerned with updating their Facebook status than avoiding the police. Here are five of our favorites:

• The Baby With Bong Photo: A 19-year-old Florida mother posted a Facebook photo of her infant appearing to smoke out of a bong, according to CBS News. The Florida Department of Children and Families launched an investigation and planned to drug test both the mother and child, despite the mother’s protests that the photo was taken as a joke. According to the Palm Beach Post, the mother is “facing one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, a first-degree misdemeanor.”

Whether Cheech & Chong were among her Facebook friends was not revealed.

• Couple Arrested After Eating Rare Iguana: Metro.co.uk reported that Bahamian authorities apprehended an American couple whose Facebook photos showed them capturing, grilling and eating a rare iguana. Police arrested the couple for violating the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

We’re guessing the couple deleted both “Bahamian authorities” and “grilled iguana” from their “likes”.

• UK Fugitive Arrested For Taunting Cops: After escaping from a minimum security prison, convicted thief Craig Lynch posted defiant photos of himself mocking the police. Police contacted Facebook “looking for information on where he might be updating the site,” the Times Online reported.  He was eventually caught and returned to jail.

Photos of Lynch sitting in his cell have yet to be posted.

• Fraud Fugitive Brags Online, Gets Nabbed: Fugitive Maxi Sopo, wanted for bank fraud, fled to Mexico to avoid arrest. According to the Associated Press, he began posting Facebook updates about “living in paradise,”  and even “friended” a former U.S. Justice Department official.  The official helped authorities locate and arrest Sopo, who could face up to 30 years behind bars.

There’s poking your friends, then there’s sending your friends to the pokey.

• Hitman Stopped Thanks To Facebook Chit-Chat: Mafia hitman Pasquale Manfredi was snagged by police who tracked his constant Facebook chatting. ABC News reported that Manfredi “logged into his account so often that police were able to trace the signal and find his hideout. ” He was charged with murder, among other crimes.

Wonder if updating your status can be a last wish?

We’ll always have criminals, and we’ll always have Facebook. But thanks to the stupidity of the former in the use of the latter, we may be able to cut down on future crimes. And that’s something we can all “like.”

Image via Chatham County, NC

Divorce is always an emotional roller coaster. Add non-payment of child support, and it becomes a financial roller coaster … and neither you nor your children are strapped in.

What can you do? First, understand that you’re not alone and that, while the law is on your side, there are many issues to consider if you’re faced with a problem in your spouse’s lack of payment.

Many non-payment situations arise from unforeseen circumstances in the father’s (or mother’s if the roles are reversed) financial situation. The loss of a job or change in income to the negative is hard for them to swallow and admit. By keeping the lines of communications open with your ex-spouse and being sensitive (and non-judgmental) of their financial situation, you can often avoid circumstances that lead to non-payment.

If their financial situation changes, offer to negotiate a more affordable arrangement with them. If possible, you should do this with your attorney so that the arrangement is documented. But being willing to work with your ex-spouse will help alleviate financial stress for him (or her) and increase the chances they’ll be able and willing to pay some amount.

But unfortunate finances isn’t the only reason non-payment situations occur.

Withholding child support is tactic often used by a non-custodial parent who’s being denied the right to visit his children. While many circumstances may warrant it, try not to limit access to children as means of punishing your ex. If you follow the letter of the divorce and custody agreement, though, the law is on your side, even if your ex-spouse doesn’t seem to be.

If your spouse is able to pay child support but refuses to, there are a number of remedies:

• Contempt of Court: A true “deadbeat dad” can be held in contempt of court for intentionally violating an order of support. If he’s not able to “show cause” for his lack of payment, he can be jailed for up to 180 days.

• Income Withholding Orders: An order can be made by the state Child Support Division instructing your ex’s employer to withhold child support payments from his wages and other income.

• Tax Intercept: This program authorizes the interception of the non-custodial parent’s federal and state tax refunds.

• Driver’s License Suspension: The state Child Support Division has the authority to suspend driver’s licenses (as well as professional, hunting, fishing and trapping licenses) until child support payments are made.

• Motor Vehicle Liens: This restricts your ex’s ability to sell or purchase a new vehicle until an agreement is reached with the Prosecuting Attorney for the release of the lien.

Obviously, it’s in the best interest of everyone involved to be reasonable during this especially difficult situation. The overall objective should always be what’s in the best interest of the children.

But when reason and communication don’t solve the problem with your ex-spouse’s non-payment of child support, consult your divorce or family attorney and explore your legal options to ensure you and your children are being cared for properly.

You’re ready to act upon that million-dollar idea and start a home-based business. Before you know it, you’ll be tripling your net worth in your bathrobe.

Assuming you’re not violating any zoning laws.

Before you launch a business empire from your kitchen table, you need to review county and municipal ordinances, as well as your homeowner association’s rules.

These laws, ordinances and covenants do serve a valid purpose. They’re designed to protect people from home-based business activities that can endanger the safety and serenity of life in your neighborhood. Noise, traffic and bright lights can reduce the quality of life for all residents, and negatively impact property values.

The good news is, if your home-based business has “no impact” (you have no employees and don’t generate customer traffic), you’re probably not violating any zoning laws.

If your business does have “impact,” the primary restrictions you’ll face include:

• Physical Changes and Visibility: Most zoning codes restrict changing your home’s exterior to promote business. They also prohibit commercial signage.

• Traffic: The maximum number of employees working in, and customers visiting a home, are usually defined by ordinance, as is the amount of parking to accommodate both.

• External Effects: Most codes restrict nuisances such as noise and odor, and prohibit the storage of hazardous material.

If you’re not negatively impacting the neighborhood, but are still in violation of zoning laws, you can file for a special exception or variance. This process can be expensive and time consuming, however, and, if successful, can generate additional problems.

By securing a variance, you’ve alerted regulatory authorities to your business, and invited fire, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and other inspections, and the potential for never-ending “compliance” expenses. Plus, one complaint from a grouchy neighbor can result in your exception being revoked.

Since home-based businesses make up nearly half of all those in the U.S., many municipalities are making a concerted effort to reduce the red tape around such enterprises. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Do your homework, and take whatever steps necessary to comply with all zoning laws. Even if it means buying an OSHA-approved kitchen table that can support those millions.

Dealing with the death of a loved one is a difficult situation for everyone. Emotions get the best of people when the thought that their beloved family member is no longer with us. When you question whether your dearly departed’s last will and testimony truly reflects how they wanted their assets distributed, emotions run amok and the difficulty of the situation increases dramatically.

Contesting a will is a complex and expensive process. First, you must have “legal standing” which means you must be able to demonstrate to the court that you have a sufficient enough connection to the departed (in most states that means being a spouse, child, grandchild, parent or sibling) to contest the will.

Second, you must have a valid reason for such action. And being disappointed in your inheritance is typically not enough. The four primary legal grounds for contesting a will are as follows:

• Improper Execution: The laws governing the signing and witnessing of a Last Will & Testament are very specific, but vary from state to state. If you can show that the signing was not in accordance with all applicable state laws, there’s a good chance of the will being declared invalid. In fact, this is the most common and successful reason for contesting a will.

• Lack of “Testamentary” Capacity: When a will is signed, the “testator” (person signing the will) has to fully understand the value of his or her assets, who should logically inherit them, and the legal effect of the action he or she is taking. While certain medical conditions can limit judgment, proving lack of capacity is very difficult, and often requires a court decision that the person was incapable of understanding their actions within days of the will signing.

• Undue Influence: If it can be demonstrated that the deceased was forced into signing by someone who would benefit from the will, it can be contested. Unfortunately, undue influence is also very difficult to prove.

• Fraud: If it can be proven that the deceased was deceived into signing the will –being told they were signing a power of attorney instead, for example – the will can be contested for fraud.

But even if you feel you can prove any of those cases, keep in mind you may still not have much luck. Because many people hate the thought of beneficiaries fighting over willed assets, and include a “no contest” clause in the document to avoid such unpleasantness. The clause states that any beneficiary contesting the will forfeits their inheritance. If the will in question has this clause, the uphill battle you’ll have to fight becomes much steeper.

As you can see, contesting a will is extremely difficult. You should only do so if you’re convinced that your loved one’s wishes aren’t being met, and you can prove it.

To better understand whether or not a departed loved one’s will could or should be contested, you should consult your family attorney. They will remind you of your rights and better assess your situation specifically to advise you if contesting the will is a good idea, or even possible.

If you suddenly had legal problems, what would you do? Like any responsible person, you’d hire a lawyer. But, how do you find the right lawyer, one who will effectively represent your interests throughout a potentially lengthy and difficult legal process?

While there are no easy answers to this question, hiring a lawyer who has demonstrated several qualities in their work and action is a good starting point. Here are the five qualities to look for in a lawyer:

1. Legal Expertise: Your attorney should be well-versed in the organization and management of legal work — from research and investigation to analysis and evaluation. Ask attorneys you are considering about their experience, specifically in cases like yours.

2. Problem Solving: Beyond basic legal competence, your lawyer should be innovative in developing your case. When identifying pertinent issues, refining arguments and devising a legal strategy, a little creativity goes a long way. While this is a hard quality to judge in an interview, ask them about their approach to problem solving and for an example of how they’ve been creative in a previous case.

3. Communication: An attorney must explain complicated legal issues to a range of audiences in an understandable and persuasive manner. Most importantly your lawyer needs to help you understand the complexities of the legal system. But they must also be able to get their message across to opposing counsel, a judge, and possibly a jury. If they don’t communicate well with you, they may not communicate well on your behalf.

4. Negotiation: Cases can sometimes be settled outside of court. Doing so not only avoids a long, drawn-out court proceeding, but also typically saves you money and time you’ll have to pay your attorney for. Lawyers who are most skilled at negotiating typically resolve cases that are agreeable to both sides. When you consider a lawyer, ask them about their track record for negotiating settlements, if they typically settle out of court and if their previous customers are typically happy with the settlements.

5. Specialization: If your situation involves a highly specialized area of the law (say, computer software intellectual property), you should hire a lawyer with proven expertise in that area. Ask the attorney you are interviewing about their experience in cases like yours. If they don’t have any, you may want to find someone who does.

While interviewing lawyers may take some time, it is often the best way to find the right attorney to represent you. Of course, the way most people find a lawyer is from a personal referral from someone who has faced similar legal issues. If you don’t have a friend or family member who has faced the same type of case, consider seeking the advice of business people who come into frequent contact with attorneys. Professionals such as bankers, accountants and real estate brokers regularly interact with lawyers, giving them great insight into who’s effective and who’s not.

Lawyer referral services are another source of information, as are your state and local Chambers of Commerce.

Hiring a lawyer is serious business. Make sure you take the time necessary to make the choice that’s right for you and your legal circumstances.

Your bills keep coming, your fees keep mounting and your creditors keep calling. What can you do? Your finances have become unmanageable, and you’re desperate to get out of debt.

Should you file for bankruptcy?

It depends on the seriousness of your situation and the range of other options available to you. For while bankruptcy can get you out of debt, it will have a profound effect on your financial well-being for years to come.

Bankruptcy is a legal process through which a debtor is “discharged” from personal liability for certain types of debts (i.e. you’re no longer required to repay the debts that have been discharged). Once those debts are discharged, your creditors aren’t allowed to take further collection actions such as foreclosures, repossessions, wage garnishments and collection calls.

The two primary areas of bankruptcy law used by individuals to discharge personal debt are Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.

Chapter 7 is the least favorable to the debtor, and involves the sale of all your “nonexempt” assets by a court -appointed trustee, with the proceeds going to your creditors to pay their claims. Exempt assets vary from state to state, but usually include cars, work-related tools and basic household furnishings.

Chapter 13 is a much more debtor-friendly option available to people with a steady income. It allows you to propose a court-monitored three-to-five year repayment plan, through which you can pay off your debt with future earnings instead of through the sale of your current assets.

The major downside of personal bankruptcy is the negative effect it has on your overall financial profile. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for 10 years, limiting your ability to buy a home, get a consumer loan, get life insurance or secure certain jobs.

In addition, bankruptcy does not eliminate your need to repay overdue taxes, spousal or child support, student loans, forfeitures, or criminal fines and penalties.

Given its long-term implications, bankruptcy should be your last resort. Reduce your personal spending, and negotiate with your creditors. In today’s financial environment, most will be willing to work with you.

If you decide that your debt problems warrant this approach, be sure to hire a lawyer well versed in bankruptcy law.

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As more people go online, thanks to sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Google, online privacy is becoming a growing concern for many people in Kentucky. There has been an increase in identity theft, thanks to computer malware (malicious computer software) and phishing (an attempt to trick people into giving out personal and financial information).

But rather than avoid the Internet completely, you can enjoy the web and everything it has to offer as long as you practice a few personal safety tips to protect your online privacy.

1. Don’t disclose personal information on Facebook.

The best way to keep people from finding out personal information online? Don’t put personal information online. It’s actually that easy. Do common sense things, like not posting that you’re going on vacation. If you want people to know about your vacation, tell them when you get home. If you don’t want people to know about the valuables in your house, don’t talk about the new HD TV you just bought.

2. Don’t use easily answered security questions on personal accounts.

A lot of personal information is easy to figure out, like your mother’s maiden name or your pet’s name (because you talked about your dog, Foofsie, on Facebook). But those are the kinds of security questions some websites still ask for. Someone posing as you can type in the information they figured out, and get access to your accounts. If you have to answer questions like this, don’t give the real answers. Make up answers you can keep track of.

3. Never trust emails claiming to be from your credit card company, your bank, or the government.

This is what I mean by “phishing.” You get an email from someone posing as your bank saying there’s an error with your account. They give you a link that takes you to a page that looks like your bank’s. You put in your account number and password, find a message that says everything is all right, and you go away satisfied, not aware you just gave a criminal your bank account information. Don’t follow links in the emails from anyone who you do financial business with. Type in the web address you already know and trust, and search for the page you need.

4. Pick a hard-to-figure password.

A lot of people use basic, easy-to-figure passwords like their children’s names, their birthday, or even something as easy to figure as “password.” Don’t do this. Pick a pass phrase, like “itwasthebestoftimesitwastheworstoftimes” or one that uses symbols and numbers instead of letters, like S!mplyTh3L@w (SimplyTheLaw, get it?).

5. Use a temporary credit card number.

If you’re going to do a lot of online spending at one time, like at Christmas, ask your credit card provider for a temporary credit card number with a predetermined spending limit. Use it only for those purchases, and then shut it off. This way, if someone gets hold of your credit card number, they can’t run it up past the predetermined limit, and it will soon be shut down if they get it and hold it for several months.

There are lots of other great resources online that can help you be more confident that your privacy won’t be compromised. But the best way to be confident it won’t is to make yourself smarter about using the web in the first place.

Have a privacy story you’d like to share to help our readers protect themselves? Drop us a line in the comments.

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Few things confuse people more than “The Law.”

One way to reduce this confusion is to understand the differences between civil law and criminal law. Though both categories work to protect our rights as citizens, they cover very different aspects of society.

Civil Law deals with disagreements between private individuals (commercial or personal injury disputes, for example). Typically, one person will claim that the other person’s actions caused him harm, and file a civil suit seeking compensation for the damage caused.

The plaintiff (the person filing the suit) must demonstrate by a “preponderance of the evidence” that the defendant was responsible for the harm. In other words, only a majority (51%) of the evidence must support the plaintiff’s claim, which is a much lower burden of proof than is used in criminal cases.

In addition, only five of the six jurors (in a six-juror trial) or nine of the twelve jurors (in a 12 juror trial) must agree with the evidence, depending on whether you’re in District Court or Circuit Court. The jury then determines the monetary damages the defendant owes the plaintiff.

Criminal Law is designed to prevent citizens from deliberately harming each other, and involves actions that have been declared illegal by the state (murder, theft, assault, etc.). In a criminal case, the State or Federal Government brings the defendant to trial, and a guilty verdict usually results in jail time, a fine, or both.

In criminal cases, the defendant is not required to prove his or her innocence. Instead, the prosecutor must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt” to a jury of 12, with a guilty verdict being unanimous. Compare that to the “9 out of 12″ rule for civil law.

A civil case can also be brought when a crime has been committed. The most famous example of this was the O.J. Simpson case where Simpson was found “not guilty” of murder in his criminal trail, but was found liable in a wrongful death civil suit a few years later. The jury ruled that the preponderance of evidence showed that Simpson was responsible for the wrongful death, and ordered him to pay damages to the victim’s family, even though the criminal trial found him not guilty.

The legal system isn’t nearly as intimidating when you understand the differences between civil and criminal law.

Especially when you obey both.

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You’ve had a flash of inspiration, and plan to start a business in Kentucky. What now?

First, if you need money to fund your business, you’ll most likely need a written plan for it. Your business plan outlines your proposed business, the market or audience it will serve, and how it will profitably serve that market or audience. This plan will be the key component of the documentation you’ll submit to secure financing for your venture.

Of course, you can also start your own business with your own money. Many small businesses, particularly those operated out of someone’s home, are started without a written business plan. But you still have to set your business up under the law.

To do that, you’ll need to determine what licensing, permitting and registration requirements apply to your business. Be sure to research all federal, state and local regulations.

Then, you’ll need to decide which business structure is best for your company from both a liability and tax standpoint. Your choices include:

• Sole Proprietorship: The simplest structure (commonly used by small business start-ups) in which the owner is personally responsible for all business liabilities.
• Partnership: A legal relationship established among two or more partners who engage in trade and share in the profits or losses of that trade.
• Corporation: The most complex business structure which establishes the business as a separate legal entity from its owners.
• Limited Liability Corporation (LLC): A structure that combines the liability limitations of a corporation with tax flexibility.

You’ll also need to name your business, and file that name with either the Kentucky Secretary of State (for partnerships, corporations and LLCs) or your local County Clerk (for sole proprietorships). Make sure the name you choose is available before you register.

You must obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service. You should also consult with an accountant to thoroughly understand all your federal, state and local tax obligations. You will certainly need to register your small business with the Kentucky Department of Revenue and review your state tax obligations.

If you plan to hire employees, be sure to familiarize yourself with the wide range of issues employers face, including employment eligibility verification, new hire reporting, federal and state tax withholding, unemployment insurance and worker’s compensation. Obviously, it’s a complicated issue that requires a lot of time and effort.

Congratulations on starting a business.

You’ve had the inspiration. Now comes the perspiration.

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