Legal Placement Services: The Difference Between Court Reporters and Paralegals

Many important professions are involved with legal placement services. Most people know the important ones, such as lawyers, defense attorneys, judges, juries, and others. However, some positions often get confused, those being court reporters and paralegals. Though they both assist law firms in some way, this is where the similarities end. This article will go on to describe the difference, and any additional amount of similarities there might be between court reporters and paralegals.

CourtReporters

The Court Reporting career path is a great choice for people who tend to be more on the shy, introverted side but are great writers. If the person gets uncomfortable around large amounts of people, they should not have to worry about doing so with this position. Besides transcribing the happenings of trials, the other tasks court reporters have that involve interacting with people is limited: swearing in witnesses, reading back parts of the trial, or asking certain people to repeat something if it is unclear. "Swearing in" is the process of reading the witness his or her rights before providing testimony.

Court reporters are sometimes called "law reporters," "shorthand reporters," or "stenotype operators." With today's technology, reporters sometimes require the skills of digital court reporting or voice writing reporting. These are self-explanatory because the reporters record and transcribe the trial at the same time. This may sound easier than it is. The National Verbatim Reporters Association (NVRA) set requirements for reporters to pass typing tests with speeds of 225 words a minute for the United States. This varies by country. This NVRA requirement is often the reason why the dropout rate for this position is very high-nearly 95% for some schools. Training is difficult because it is a very difficult skill to obtain.

Paralegals

While court reporting is a great profession for introverted individuals, paralegals should definitely be more extraverted because it is a people-oriented position. Paralegals have the option of working for a law firm or independently. While most reporters tend to serve some sort of law or government firms (though some do choose to work freelance) most paralegals work independently. While paralegals are involved with some cases-conducting research, drafting documents, working with clients, and managing cases-they are not permitted to provide legal advice to clients directly unless it is permitted by law. One characteristic reporters and paralegals have in common is every state has different laws and certifications that must be completed by both professions, but every state is different.

There are some other characteristics paralegals and court reporters have in common, though they are few. These professionals must have excellent written and oral communication skills, though for court reporters it is mostly written skills that are most important. They must be detail-oriented and portray a high sense of professionalism since they are both working with legal placement services and the government. Though the similarities are few, it is still easy to see how these two positions could get confused. Hopefully, this article has cleared up any misunderstandings for those people who are looking into working with legal placement services.

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Types Health Insurance in India

The awareness for buying medical insurance in India is finally growing. People have realized that buying a medical insurance is a long term investment. To tap this growing demand, medical insurance providers offer various types of mediclaim policies to lure their customers. Before starting the buying process it is important to know the different types of medical insurance plans that are available in India.

1. Individual Health Insurance policy

Individual policy also known as the 'Standard Mediclaim policy' is one of the simplest forms of insurance, and is available with all health insurance companies in India. As the name suggests, this policy is designed to cover hospitalization expenses for an individual up to the sum assured of the plan.

For instance: Mr. Ram has an individual policy for Rs 3 lakh. If Mr. Ram is hospitalized, the insurance company / TPA will bear the medical expenses up to a maximum limit of Rs 3 lakh.

2. Family Floater Health Insurance

Family floater insurance policy provides a cover to the entire family under one umbrella. This plan covers self, spouse and two dependent kids in one policy. Some medical insurance companies also permit parents or parents in law under the same plan.

The main feature of this insurance policy is that the sum assured floats among the family members listed in the policy. The complete sum assured can be used either by a single member of the family listed in the policy or it can used by more than one member in the same year.

Quotes for a family floater health insurance is cheaper than the total quotes for individual insurance policies. In simple words, family floater policy offers a wider cover at a lower premium.

3. Critical illness Health Insurance policy

The critical illness health policy offers coverage only for the critical illnesses mentioned in the policy wordings. The highlight of this plan is that the insured individual receives a lump sum amount (irrespective of the hospital bill) as specified in the policy on being diagnosed with a critical ailment (as defined by the insurance company).

4. Senior citizen Health Insurance

As the name suggests, the senior citizen policy caters to individuals above the age of 60 years. This policy has a shorter waiting period. The senior citizen policy generally has a higher renewable age and the premiums are also higher.

Each type of insurance policy has its own set of advantages and drawbacks. The best policy that suits your needs would depend upon various factors like age, budget, number of individuals to be covered etc. Whatever you buy, you need a specialized agent to assist you and help you buy medical insurance

Buying Individual Health Insurance at Low Cost

Buying individual health insurance is easy, but you need to check whether you needs are covered or not. A reputed and esteemed health insurance provider covers pre-existing conditions as well so search a valued one.

People from all over the world understand the importance of buying health insurance plans. If a person is not employed or is unable to obtain insurance from his/her employer, then the person has to check various health plans available in the market. Buying health plans on your own is normally much more expensive than when you get it from employer. In fact, employer provided plans offer extensive coverage. According to experts, before finalizing any insurance policy, the customers should ensure they understand the terms and conditions, including type of coverage, benefits, limitations, and other benefits.

Here are some tips to ponder before buying individual health insurance:

Do not buy a cheapest insurance plan: People are suggested not buy a cheapest health insurance plan as it may be cheap in its quality as well. If your coverage needs do not covered, then it is waste of money and time for you. Buy a health insurance policy after confirming that it accomplishes your needs within your budget.

All individual insurance plans are not created for the whole consumers: The other thing you need to pay attention before buying a health plan is that different plans suit different individuals. Before finalizing a plan for you, understand your healthcare needs.

Understanding your needs thoroughly: Before getting a plan, it is vital for you to understand your plan and ensure does it cover your requirements. If you are seeking out to have dependents, it is vital that you understand the medical needs of your family members.

When you have a pre-existing condition: If you have a pre-existing condition, then you cannot buy a health plan blindly. Because, some insurance providers cover pre-existing conditions while some are not. So, it is advised to confirm whether the policy provider covers pre-existing conditions or not.

Taking prescription drugs: Individuals who are administering prescription drugs are advised to check their health insurance providers if they will cover their drugs or medicines or not as some health insurance companies do not cover them.

Get some vital information about your healthcare providers: One of the important things to check is whether the insurance provider is authentic or not. Being a customer, you can ask for the limitations or exclusions in your policy.

Lots of companies offer discounts: If you pay annual premiums for individual health policies, then your healthcare provider offers discount. Once you have decided to buy a particular individual health plan, then you need to decide whether you pay the premium annually to avail this discount or not.

Buying individual health plans

If you are planning to buy individual health plans at discount rates, then getting the assistance of the internet can be proved of great help. In addition, you can companies and their products before choosing one. So, do not get late. Just search a company and ask for individual health quotes.

Understanding More About The HMO Health Covers

In the present-day uncertain life, acquiring a health insurance policy has become very important. Health insurance helps in safeguarding you and your family against any kind of health issues. The health cover policies provide complete coverage to the insured person for dealing with the medical expenses, cost of surgeries and rehabilitation. Since the past few years, there has been a considerable rise in the rates of these health assurance plans and the people have been looking for various effective ways to deal with the augmentation. In the early 1990's, HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) was formed in order to curb the ever-growing rates of the insurance companies.

The main objective behind the formation of HMO was to contain the cost of insurance claims and offer lower cost health cover plans in return. This objective was accomplished by restricting the physicians and infirmaries to certain companies, who will consent to bring down the reimbursement rates for providing insurance services. Various HMO plans, started out with the doctors, hospitals and other organizations, helped in providing affordable health cover policies to the people. This step was beneficial for the people who used medical facilities within the stipulated network.

Before the HMO cover plans, the option of co-payment for the doctor's visit was unknown. These visits were included, but they were covered along with the other expenses which were also subjected to co insurance. For instance, if the deductible amount was $500 and the doctor's visit fees were $200, the patients had to pay $200 from their pocket. But, with the advent of MHO's, if you visit a physician within the stipulated network, you can get the co payment without worrying about the deductible amount. People were able to save extra amount of money, which was earlier used in paying heavy monthly premiums.

Obtaining HMO health insurance cover is a good idea for the people. However, there is a problem associated with obtaining these kinds of policies. You are restricted to a certain number of hospitals and doctors within the HMO network. If you are availing the benefits of HMO and visit a doctor outside your network, you will not be entitled to any kind of coverage. In order to curb the ever rising rates, HMO included only one doctor or hospital in the network. It is highly beneficial if you are visiting that particular hospital or doctor. But in case, you are seeing any other specialist outside the network, you will have to deal with all the expenses out of your own pocket.

In spite of these negative points, HMO's are still widely popular all around the globe. Now, these HMO's include a large number of hospitals and physicians in their network so as to allow the users to deal with the health issues effectively. With the help of these HMO health covers, you can save a great deal of money by visiting the doctors within your network. So, if you are looking forward to save a great deal of money while dealing with your chronic health issues, then obtaining HMO policies is the best option for you.

What Are The HIPAA Regulations For Medical Transcription?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has various regulations that seek to protect the private medical information of patients. All the confidential information that is provided by patients will be stored and transmitted electronically and HIPAA stipulates that there be various safeguards in place to help prevent any misuse or abuse.

Hospitals, clinics and health insurance companies store hundreds of records of patients each day and most of them use medical transcription for the purpose of storing. When the records are documented, it is important that the patient information is not accessed by anyone other than those authorized for this purpose.

Top 5 HIPAA Regulations For Medical Transcription

If the protected information of patients is stored on tapes, it would be best to convert them into electronic format. When the information is stored electronically, you will be able to safeguard them better. You can use passwords to protect them. Most hospitals and health insurance companies employ medical transcriptionist to store all patient information in a systematic manner. These medical transcriptionists will need to be trained in the various rules and regulations of HIPAA so that there are no violations and there is better compliance. If any protected information of patients is transmitted electronically over the Internet there should be enough safeguards in place to ensure that it is secure. It would be best if the files are encrypted. The access codes to the files should be known only to those who are authorized to access the files. So even if an unauthorized person does manage to access the files they will not be able to open them without the codes. All the data that is entered and stored by medical transcriptionists will need to be password protected. This will ensure that there is no unauthorized access. The computers or workstations from where this information is stored should also be password protected. The passwords need to be changed at regular intervals. Most covered entities have policies in place that stipulate that the password need to be changed once every 30 - 60 days. Any amendments or changes that are made to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act should be passed on the employees through special training sessions or newsletters or meetings. This will ensure compliance of HIPAA.

The workstations should be positioned in such a way that no one is able to see the screen and misuse the information that is displayed there. If the employee is not sitting at the workplace they will need to lock the computer so that any unauthorized access is prevented.

All the compliance standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act will need to be fulfilled by covered entities and their employees. If anyone tries to gain access to the computers or files there should be enough safeguards to sound a warning. It is the responsibility of the employee that all security and privacy rules of HIPAA are strictly enforced. There can be various penalties if the rules and regulations of HIPAA are not complied with.