Letters.Arbitration is Good Your July 23 article on the Department of Managed Health Care contained an assertion that arbitration is bad for health care consumers, and an implied criticism of the DMHC DMHC Department of Managed Health Care (California) for not advocating its abolition. The Department has wisely chosen to put the interest of consumers ahead of those of trial lawyers. The fact is that arbitration provides consumers nearly all of the same rights and responsibilities as does a court trial. They have the ability to hire their own attorney, depose To make a deposition; to give evidence in the shape of a deposition; to make statements that are written down and sworn to; to give testimony that is reduced to writing by a duly qualified officer and sworn to by the deponent. witnesses, subpoena subpoena (səpē`nə) [Lat.,=under penalty], in law, an order to a witness to appear before a court. A subpoena ad testificandum [Lat. documents from the HMO HMO health maintenance organization. HMO n. A corporation that is financed by insurance premiums and has member physicians and professional staff who provide curative and preventive medicine within certain financial, or hospital and introduce expert witness testimony. Consumers can win the same type of damages as a jury can award, including economic damages and punitive damages Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party that goes beyond that which is necessary to compensate the individual for losses and that is intended to punish the wrongdoer. . Mandatory binding arbitration is widely used in many different industries, including banking, real estate, securities and construction. It is no accident that the trial lawyers lobby has chosen to attack the binding arbitration agreements required by HMOs instead of those required by real estate agents or home mortgage lenders. Some of the biggest windfalls awarded by juries in recent years have been against HMOs. If we prohibit health care arbitration, the only beneficiaries will be the trial lawyer lobby and a handful of individuals who could "win the lottery" with jackpot-sized civil damage awards. The losers will be consumers and businesses who can anticipate an increase in their health costs to compensate for these jackpot awards. Ken Zuetel Zuetel and Torigian Pasadena Clogged Arteries The problem with Los Angeles' transit system is that it is years behind the mass transit mass transit, public transportation systems designed to move large numbers of passengers. Types and Advantages Mass transit refers to municipal or regional public shared transportation, such as buses, streetcars, and ferries, open to all on a times ("L.A.'s Clogged Artery," July 9). Hello. Politicians stopped the progression of a rapid rail system back in the 1930s and 1940s. And over the years, there has been no effective people-mover transportation system in this vast city. Millions of immigrants are being allowed into Los Angeles and there is no reasonable means of transportation for getting all these people around comfortably. The powers that be are only concerned with lining the pockets of oil men, who reside in Los Angeles and are making people buy cars to line the pockets of dealerships. Los Angeles will also be known for the most clogged lungs if they do not start to consider the damage to one's health from all these cars and the lack of a sensible rapid transit system. Los Angeles and MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. officials best get a grip because there won't be people alive in 10 years if the clogged artery of the entire city isn't solved. Ever hear of toxic fumes fumes odorous gases and other volatile materials; inhalation of irritating fumes causes coughing and, if sufficiently severe, irreversible pulmonary edema. ? Valdemenia N. Williams Los Angeles |
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