The Legal Protection Plan is available to New York State
Dental Association (NYSDA) members in good standing.
The Legal Protection Plan is designed to protect the legal
and financial interests of dentists facing public and private administrative
proceedings. The Legal Protection Plan is not insurance or insurance plan and is
not the offering of an insurance plan.
The Legal Protection Plan provides legal coverage in
exchange for a payment for potential claims, proceedings, and/or investigations
before the New York State Education Department, Medicaid or Medicare, Workers’
Compensation, the United States Office of Civil Rights (HIPAA), the New York
State and New York City Divisions of Human Rights, New York State Sales Tax
Bureau, New York State Department of Labor Employee Classification Bureau,
United States Occupational and Safety Health Administration, Federal Trade
Commission Identity Theft Bureau, IPRO, and any Health Maintenance Organization
(HMO) or other insurance/managed care plan, provided that coverage for HMO and
insurance/managed care plan issues relates only to claims, proceedings, and/or
investigations where the HMO or insurer seeks to recover or recoup money from a
dentist for fraud or similar alleged wrongdoing and not to ordinary billing
disputes or routine denials of reimbursement claims.
Legal services are provided by Feldman Kieffer, L.L.P.
Participation in the Legal Protection Plan is secondary to
any applicable insurance or other financial coverage a NYSDA member dentist has
for the particular legal matter, and the Legal Protection Plan shall only be
utilized when such other coverage has been exhausted.
Coverage for a legal matter is only effective
for the Legal Protection Plan year from January 1, through December 31, and
the matter must fall within that plan year and notice of such matter must be
delivered to NYSDA while coverage is in effect in order for coverage to be
provided. If a legal matter is outside the definition of the Legal Protection
Plan as described in this provision, or coverage limits have been reached,
Feldman Kieffer shall provide legal services to a member dentist at a preferred
billing rate on a direct bill basis to the dentist client, provided that Feldman
Kieffer determines the matter is one in which Feldman Kieffer can adequately
represent the dentist client.
The Legal Protection Plan shall not cover criminal matters
under any circumstances. Participation by NYSDA members in the Legal Protection
Plan is subject to screening and approval by Feldman Kieffer and NYSDA, which
screening and approval can, at a minimum, consist of review of prior usage and
claims history with the Legal Protection Plan, review of any prior malpractice
or professional discipline history, and review of any NYSDA ethics
history.
Concierge Services
One of the benefits that is offered to members of the
Legal Protection Plan is concierge legal services at a preferred billing rate
through the law firm Feldman Kieffer, LLP located throughout New York State,
through their four offices. These benefits are for select areas of practice,
which includes the following:
- Contract Review
- Contract Negotiations with Insurance Companies
- Landlord/Tenant Issues
- Leases
- Small Claims Matters
- Collection Issues
- Basic Wills
- Health Care Proxies and Power of Attorney
- One Hour Free Consultation
In order to obtain these services, they must be a member
of the Legal Protection Plan. The preferred billing rate that they would receive
would be $175.00 per hour for these professional services that the member would
be expected to pay.
When a member wants to take advantage of the concierge
legal service program, they would enter into an individual retainer with the
above-mentioned law firm, specifying the normal terms and conditions between
Feldman Kieffer and the member.
These concierge legal services benefits are in addition to
the normal benefits offered in the Legal Protection
Plan.
