Injured Persons Will Be Denied Full Reimbursement for Medical Bills

The Ohio Supreme Court's decision in Jacques v. Manton continues a recent trend of depriving plaintiffs of fair compensation for their harms and losses when injured by the negligence of another. In the final analysis, injured persons who have health insurance will recover less money for their medical expenses than those who have no health insurance.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage No Help When Injured By A Person With an Immunity

What happens if an emergency vehicle like a police cruiser, ambulance, or fire truck broadsides you in an intersection when the emergency vehicle is responding to a call?  Under the law, drivers of emergency vehicles are not liable for causing injuries and are granted an "immunity" unless they were acting recklessly or wantonly at the time of the collision.  A reckless or wanton act is much greater than simple negligence.  When a driver has an immunity, you cannot recover anything from that individual or his insurance policy.

When this happens, people naturally look to their own auto policies and the possibility that there may be coverage under one's own uninsured motorist coverage. Even though your own uninsured motorist coverage may define an uninsured driver is a person having an immunity, the policies usually also require that you must be  legally entitled to recover from that individual in order to qualify for a recovery under your uninsured motorists coverage.  The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that because you are not legally entitled to recover against a person who enjoys an immunity, you are also not entitled to recover under your own uninsured motorist coverage. 

This issue needs to be addressed by the Ohio legislature.