Letters to the Editor, Sept. 22 Insurers stack the deck
Re “Not slashing benefits” (Letters, Sept. 8):
“So, Insurance Bureau of Canada spokesman Ralph Palumbo didn’t like Alan Shanoff calling him out on his statement about reducing “unnecessary costs” to catastrophically injured auto accident victims in order to ensure the money goes “to people who really need it” (“Risky business,” Sept. 1). I’m not sure what those “unnecessary costs” are, unless Palumbo is referring to the tens of thousands paid for substandard, so-called “independent” medical assessments, done by doctors hand-picked by insurance adjusters, which paint their insureds who suffer traumatic brain injuries, major psychological issues (think of the death of a child in the back seat) and other devastating accident-related problems, as malingerers. I’d start there, Mr. Palumbo. The IBC “cut costs” by refusing many of these victims the legislated funding available to pay for their own balanced medical assessments. Maybe the IBC could stop its habit of plying the Liberal leadership candidates with tens of thousands in political donations. That would save money, wouldn’t it?”
Harold Becker, MD Toronto
(A few bucks, yes)