Plaintiffs in personal injury lawsuits are entitled to compensation for future medical expenses. We argue that the “guaranteed issue” and “individual mandate” requirements of the recently passed Affordable Care Act (ACA) will allow victims to address a large portion of their health needs through the purchase of a simple health insurance plan rather than direct compensation for an itemized list of health care needs. As such, damage awards for many health expenditures should be capped at a maximum of $6,250 per year. Therefore, the role of a life care planner should evolve into determining which life care expenses are covered under the minimum insurance requirements mandated by the ACA and which entail additional expenditures beyond those covered by health insurance.Abstract
Aggregate damages in class action securities cases estimated using standard methodologies and public volume data may be understated due to the frequent occurrence of inter-fund trades. Inter-fund trades are internal crossing trades between funds within the same fund family and are one of the few instances of trading transactions that are not reported publicly. Consequently, while inter-fund trades show up in submitted claims they are omitted from the public trade volume data generally used to estimate aggregate damages. Using actual claims data obtained from a claims administrator in a recent case, we find a significant number of damaged shares attributable to inter-fund trades, for which traditional damage estimation models do not account without an adjustment to the models' trading volume input. Our findings have implications for how aggregate damages should be estimated and call for policy reform in the reporting of inter-fund trades.Abstract
An ordered probit educational attainment model, used to predict the lost earning capacity of a wrongfully injured minor child, was created by Spizman and Kane (1992) and updated by Kane and Spizman (2001). This paper re-estimates the educational attainment model using the latest round of interviews from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1997. The model specification has been updated to reflect recent findings on the determinants of educational attainment. We also examine the legal framework in which econometric techniques have been accepted and have become standard tools in litigation.Abstract
Medical net discount rates (MNDRs) are calculated using monthly data for the period 1981:01–2012:06 based on the medical consumer price index and annual percentage yields based on 3-month, 6-month and 1-year U.S. Treasury Securities. Stationarity is tested for each series and the results of time-series analytics through 2000:05 are compared to previously published results (Ewing, Payne and Piette, 2001) that omitted Treasury Securities of shortest duration. The various series are extended to 2012:06 and the time series properties are examined. Although the results are mixed, they are more supportive of total offset (i.e., a zero MNDR) than previously published research findings have been.Abstract
This article presents procedures for calculating the value of non-wage compensation for members of private sector labor unions in the construction industry and cites examples using various collective bargaining agreements. Four major fringe benefit categories are analyzed: welfare, annuity, vacation, and pension funds. When calculating the loss to a private sector union worker it is necessary to obtain not only the relevant collective bargaining agreements but also information regarding both actual earnings and the number of hours worked. If both cannot be obtained, problems in valuing retirement and other fringe benefit funds arise. In some cases, the union member may work for several different employers during any given year, thus receiving many W-2s, but all hours worked would be recorded through the union. To value employer contributions to annuity and vacation funds a determination needs to be made if the contributions take into account premium pay union workers may receive. To value lost medical insurance, the replacement cost of a comparable medical insurance policy should be used. For lost pension benefits, it is important to establish the typical number of hours per annum that would most likely have been worked but for the injury. In addition, if the history of that union's pension benefit reveals increases over time, then that pattern may need to be considered as a basis for determining the future value of the pension benefit. Valuation of each private sector union benefit, therefore, is not simply a matter of referring to the value of the hourly contribution by the employer but requires its own method appropriate to the nature of the benefit as specified in the union's collective bargaining agreement.Abstract
This article presents the legal framework for the assessment of economic damages in the state of Colorado. Special attention is given to the statutes, case law, and procedural rules that govern the estimation of damages in personal injury and wrongful death actions including medical malpractice and ski accidents. Also included are an overview of the jury instructions and the role of the forensic economic expert in the assessment of economic damages.Abstract