Paralegal Duties and Case Scenarios Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Paralegal Duties and Case Scenarios - Essay Example In here, there is relationship called attorney-client relationship. A client-witness is one who has an existing attorney-client relationship with the hired attorney. The client is at the same time a witness or involved in a controversy and the hired attorney is the counsel. A non-client witness may refer to someone who may provide information to an attorney but no attorney-client relationship exists. The importance of an attorney-client relationship during an interview is that any information to be given by the client-witness is covered under the privileged communication rule. The privileged communication rule is a rule on evidence which provides that any information given by the client-witness to the attorney is kept confidential and cannot be divulged by the attorney without permission from the client-witness. On the other hand, the privilege is not applicable on the information gathered from or provided by a non-client witness since there is the absence of attorney-client relationship. The differences between interviewing a client-witness and a non-client witness are based on the fact that the existence or absence of the attorney-client relationship will define what level of participation the witnesses will give to the interviewer. A client-witness is expected to be participative in giving information while the non-client witness may have hesitance or may not give any information at all. As such, different plans and techniques must be provided for each of these kinds of interviewees. In the interview for a client-witness for example, the subject should do most of the talking with less interruptions by the interviewee. The purpose of the interview is to gather as much information that will help the interviewee generate relevant and useful ideas for the controversy. Questions are reserved for the latter part of the interview so as to preserve the continuity of the interviewee's statements. If there are questions that need to be clarified, the attorney can always call the client-witness anytime. On the other hand, interviewing a non-client witness entails selection of questions to be answered by the interviewee. Since most of the times the interviewee is non-participative, the interviewer should initiate the interview by asking questions. Usually, the purpose of the interview is to get an admission or confession or statements which can be admissible evidences so questions should be relevant. If the questions relate to the interviewee's participation in a controversy before a court, the interviewee should be reminded of his or her Miranda rights to make the statements or answers admissible in court proceedings. Case 2 The National Federation of Paralegal Associations (NFPA) on its research concluded that the privilege communication rule on attorney-client relationship and the ethical standards for attorneys also apply to paralegals. And under the NFPA own rules, code of ethics, and professional responsibility, paralegals are expected to avoid conflicts of interest in handling cases. Conflict of interest may arise when a paralegal will work both for the conflicting parties in a controversy. Under ethical considerations, a paralegal should refuse to accept a client whom he knows to be an adversary to a case he currently holds or previously held. He should not also desire to get

Reimbursement requirements for billing purposes in the USA healthcare Essay

Reimbursement requirements for billing purposes in the USA healthcare system - Essay Example There are two types of insurance service providers; private and government. Private insurance is a form of business just as any other and therefore exist primarily to make profit. They therefore develop service bouquets that protect their primary interests of profitability. Government insurers on the other hand obtain their funding from the taxpayers and therefore operate with the sole objective of providing affordable medical insurance to the appropriate citizens. Government therefore provides insurance services to its employees known as civil servants and the poor in the society most of whom cannot afford the cost of private insurance. In both cases, the insured remit a monthly contribution to the service provider for the insurance coverage. On those considered the poor by the government, they remit a small amount of money set by the government, which the government supplements with money from the treasury. This way, everyone affords high quality medical services. Medical insurance services differ in terms of the cover specifications. A feature more prevalent in private insurance government insurers provides uniform services to those it considers unable to afford private services. However, it allows the civil servants to choose from the different service bouquets it outlines on its coverage. The different cover specifications vary in the monthly or annual remittance. The private insurers have dynamic medical services ensuring that they cover any form of medical condition; the more expensive the service is the more comprehensive its specifications become. Additionally, the quality of the services differs depending on both the service providers and the type of service package. Private insurers just as explained are business entities; they therefore survive based on the nature of their interaction with their customer base. Such service providers therefore offer quality services as a marketing strategy. With a medical insurance cover, one is assured of high quali ty medical services in case of a condition. However, the insurance service providers regulate the amount of money that one receives for the coverage depending on the service package. Both thee government and the private insurers have a clear demarcation for every service type therefore offer financial coverage up to the level that the service type allows (Green & Rowell, 2013). The government sets the minimal insurance services that everyone in the country should have in a bid to ensure that everyone in the country lives a high quality life. Among the most basic coverage, include accidents and recurrent diseases such as tuberculosis among others. By protecting the citizens from such diseases as cancer, among other recurrent diseases, the government ensures that everyone lives a higher quality and longer lives. The medical insurance services cover both inpatient and outpatient medical services depending on the nature of the insurance cover. The service provider explains the types of services included in the service specification thereby allowing for financial remittance accordingly. The insurance service providers deal with the medical institutions often eliminating the customer in their relations. In this case, after accessing medical services, the medical service provider consults the insurer with the patient details. The insurer receives the claim and