All Entries — page 8
The full digest in part order. Use the A–Z index to look up a subject by name, or search.
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Bankruptcy & Debt
Reaffirmation Agreements and Keeping Secured Property
A reaffirmation agreement puts a debt back on the debtor after discharge. Section 524 requires disclosures, an attorney certification or court approval, and allows rescission within a defined window.
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Bankruptcy & Debt
The Automatic Stay: What It Halts and What It Does Not
Filing a bankruptcy petition halts most collection, litigation, and lien enforcement at once, without any court order, but section 362 lists exceptions and shortens the stay for repeat filers.
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Bankruptcy & Debt
The Means Test and Presumption of Abuse
The means test annualizes six months of income, compares it with the state median, and for higher earners applies fixed deductions to decide whether Chapter 7 is presumed abusive.
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Health & Benefits
Advance Beneficiary Notices and Non-Covered Services
An advance notice of non-coverage shifts financial responsibility to a Medicare beneficiary only when it is specific, timely, explained, and signed with an option chosen.
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Health & Benefits
ERISA Disability Claims and the Administrative Record
An employer disability plan governed by ERISA is usually won or lost during the internal appeal, because the record closes there and the court reviews what the file already contains.
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Health & Benefits
HIPAA Patient Access: Getting Your Own Medical Records
HIPAA gives an individual a right of access to the designated record set held about them, generally within thirty days, at a reasonable cost-based fee, with only limited grounds for denial.
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Health & Benefits
Hospital Financial Assistance Policies and Billing Disputes
Applying for hospital financial assistance and disputing a charge are two different requests. What section 501(r) requires, what state charity care statutes add, and how each route works.
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Health & Benefits
Immunization Requirements and Statutory Exemptions
School and childcare immunization mandates come from state statutes and health agency rules, not federal law. The exemption types, how they are claimed, and outbreak exclusion.
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Health & Benefits
Informed Consent: What a Patient Must Be Told
Informed consent is governed by state law. The disclosure elements, the two competing standards, objective causation, the recognized exceptions, and who consents for a patient who cannot.
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Health & Benefits
Medicare Advantage Denials and Organization Determinations
A Medicare Advantage plan decides coverage through an organization determination, and a denial it upholds must be sent on to an independent review entity without the enrollee filing again.
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Health & Benefits
Medicare Appeals: The Five Levels of Review
A Medicare denial passes through five defined levels of review, two of which carry an amount-in-controversy gate, alongside separate expedited tracks for discharge and service termination.
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Health & Benefits
Social Security Disability: Application, Denial, and Hearing
A disability claim runs through a five-step test at up to five levels of review, from a state agency determination to federal district court, with the burden shifting at step five.
