(0:00) Let’s bring Jeff Korek on because I think he’s of like mind here. (0:04) You know, one of the things that is a major issue in this country is health insurance. (0:08) In another life, I actually worked for one of the top insurance administrators in the country.
(0:13) And if you see how much money these owners of these insurance companies make, (0:17) it would boggle your mind. (0:19) Scary, right? (0:19) No, one of them actually had enough money that he decided that instead of having real (0:23) grass he was going to put astroturf in so he didn’t have to have a landscaper cutting his lawn. (0:27) Doesn’t everybody? (0:29) Isn’t that normal? (0:30) Anyway, let’s bring Jeff Korek on to talk about this.
(0:33) Good morning. (0:35) Good morning. (0:35) Thanks for having me.
(0:36) How can I help on the cookie situation? (0:41) You can send some in. (0:42) I know the retainer’s been signed. (0:44) We’re ready to go.
(0:45) Let me know when we start. (0:47) I’ll give you the different types that we like. (0:49) Yeah, chocolate chip is always safe.
(0:52) That was just that was actually not to be eaten. (0:54) That was kind of the momentum of a wonderful gentleman named Aaron Ebedes who’s running (0:59) for legislator and the Democrats did a really bad thing and took him out. (1:03) And he should have been there.
(1:05) There’s no doubt about it. (1:06) But anyway, let’s talk about a local because this, you know, interesting enough, Jeff, (1:12) two people I know very well who are both self-made billionaires have to work with the (1:17) government for specific reasons. (1:19) And after she took office the first time, I asked them both, what was your impression? (1:23) And what was interesting to me is they had the exact same response.
(1:27) Both of them said not too smart. (1:32) It was really I’m not kidding. (1:34) It was really interesting because they’re not political people because they can’t be.
(1:40) And so I thought that was very interesting the way they put it. (1:43) So, yeah, let’s talk about the insurance reforms. (1:48) Sure, I’m going to pass on how smart Governor Hochul is or not.
(1:52) But I will bring to your attention, I hope, that what she’s doing or what the intention (1:59) is regarding reforming auto insurance is not too smart because everybody’s against fraud. (2:08) Let’s be clear. (2:09) Fraud is a crime.
(2:11) Trial lawyers do not defend fraud. (2:13) I want everyone just like everyone else who is involved in fraud to be prosecuted and (2:18) put in jail. (2:20) And what this is really about is shifting the burden from mega multibillion dollar insurance (2:30) companies or Uber and ride share programmes like Lyft to taxpayers and the rest of us and (2:38) shifting the burden for who pays for these reforms she has in mind.
(2:42) And that’s not too smart. (2:43) And the impact is going to be on us and not on the people that, quite frankly, are in (2:49) large part supporting Governor Hochul’s campaign, which is now made even easier because Delgado (2:54) has stepped out of the race. (2:56) So we’ve got some real issues as not just trial lawyers, but as paying.
(3:01) You know, I look, I pay for cars and insurance and so do so many others. (3:05) And this is going to shift all of this burden to us so that we can, you know, participate (3:11) in this programme to get rid of fraud when it should be on the insurers themselves. (3:15) And that’s a real problem.
(3:16) Yeah, I mean, I was with Elise Stefanik not long ago, and I’m really disappointed because
(3:21) she’s an extremely bright, driven woman and really had her pulse on everything. (3:28) It’s too bad. (3:29) I mean, I know what stopped her, but it’s just too bad because I don’t know how this, (3:33) you know, older white guy from Long Island is going to beat her.
(3:36) We have so many people here worried about what the right thing is to say and do and
(3:39) rather than what’s the right thing to do for the communities. (3:43) So, and this is just, yeah, this is just one of them with car insurance, health insurance, (3:47) what’s happening with medical facilities that have become a socialised medicine. (3:52) I mean, what do you do?
(3:53) How do you change this when you have a majority that’s leading our state that is not listening (3:58) to anybody that’s saying anything unless they’re part of their party and those people are part (4:02) of their party are afraid to say anything against them to not get reelected.
(4:06) Well, this is the time for us as a community to start making calls to Governor Hochul’s
(4:11) office, start sending the emails and start lobbying our legislators by going to visit (4:17) their district offices to tell them what’s what, because there’s no question here that (4:22) this is going to hurt people who have been victims of accidents. (4:26) I could give you four categories which Governor Hochul’s interested in changing. (4:33) For example, one is the serious injury standard.
(4:36) Right now, New York has one of the toughest thresholds in the country. (4:39) To make a case for pain and suffering after a crash, you must meet one of nine strict (4:44) categories like death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, loss of a foetus, or being medically (4:53) unable to perform normal activities for 90 out of 180 days. (4:57) If Governor Hochul changes that, that’s going to hit people the hardest like nurses, teachers, (5:02) and others who can’t do their jobs from a desk.
(5:05) If you’re injured and unable to stay on your feet, missing work to heal, that can cost (5:11) you not just your pay cheque, but your right to recover, and that’s what Hochul wants to (5:14) eliminate. (5:15) Second item, she wants to weaken what’s called joint and several liability.
(5:19) Right now, if someone’s seriously hurt and multiple parties are responsible, the victim
(5:24) can recover full damages from the most responsible defendant.
(5:27) That’s what we call joint and several liability. (5:30) If that’s weakened, big corporations pay less, smaller wrongdoers disappear, and the (5:36) injured person is left holding the bag, so to speak. (5:41) The third item, it moves towards what’s called modified contributory negligence.
(5:47) So that would reduce compensation even further if a jury finds a victim partially at fault.
(5:53) In real life, crashes are complicated. (5:55) Under Governor Hochul’s changes, even someone who’s 90 percent victim could see the recovery (6:01) slashed.
(6:02) That doesn’t fight fraud. (6:03) It reduces justice to real victims. (6:06) And the fourth category, she wants to impose a $100,000 cap, and a hard cap means you could (6:12) lose two arms, two legs, and two heads, and no matter how catastrophic the injury is, (6:16) you’re limited to $100,000.
(6:18) No matter how reckless the conduct, that’s an artificial ceiling. (6:21) Who does that protect? (6:22) It protects insurers, not consumers. (6:26) And that’s four examples, only four, of this double E portion of the budget that the Governor (6:32) is trying to put this through.
(6:34) And notice, she’s not doing it through the legislature, typically where both houses voting
(6:37) on it. (6:38) Instead, she’s doing it through the budget. (6:40) So this is really problematic, and it’s time for an answer to your question for the community (6:44) to speak up, and that’s why I’m on today as well, to let people know what’s going on.
(6:48) This is so important. (6:49) People need to pay attention to this, because number one, HOCAL couldn’t care less about (6:54) your safety, obviously. (6:56) Nobody in their right mind would even consider a bill like that.
(7:00) Never mind try to pass it without going through the regular, you know, courses that they go (7:04) through. (7:05) You know, I don’t know how- (7:06) Yeah, exactly. (7:07) Yeah, I mean, it just is so obvious to me.
(7:09) The problem is you have people that are apathetic out there that are voting, or listening to
(7:14) social media, the bane of our existence, and then they go out and tell their friends (7:18) who are in the same mental state, and they all are voting against themselves, and they (7:23) have no idea what they’re doing until it happens, and then they don’t blame the person they
(7:27) elected. (7:28) If they don’t make change, nothing’s going to change. (7:30) I don’t know how else we do this.
(7:32) Even writing to her, I’ll give you an example. (7:35) A couple of years ago, I had a senator and an assemblyman working with me on making sure (7:40) that all pet shops in New York could not sell dogs, cats, or bunnies. (7:44) They wanted to close the puppy mills.
(7:46) It took me two years to get it done, and then she made a decision, even though it passed
(7:51) both, that she would give the pet shops two years to get a new business together. (7:56) We don’t worry about the animals that are being decimated in these places, just let’s (8:01) give the pet shop people two years. (8:03) Yeah, I understood.
(8:04) This is her mentality, and this is who people vote for because they vote party instead of
(8:09) person. (8:09) I don’t know how to change this. (8:12) You know, my grandson, he’s four years old, he had a fork on his tongue the other day, (8:16) and I tried to explain to him what it means when people say you speak with forked tongue, (8:21) talking out of both sides of your mouth.
(8:23) Governor Hochul is talking about affordability, so here’s an example of talking out of both
(8:29) sides of your mouth. (8:30) Everybody’s latching onto this affordability. (8:32) Of course, everybody’s concerned about affordability because it hits everybody at home in their (8:36) pocketbook and trying to make rent and all the other things that we need to survive every (8:40) day.
(8:40) But if Governor Hochul really wants to talk about affordability, let’s talk about what’s (8:45) driving the rates in New York, which unquestionably are higher than in so many states. (8:51) One of the major factors is what’s called credit-based pricing and zip code underwriting. (8:57) Insurers are allowed to charge people more, tell me if this sounds familiar from so many (9:01) other things that you’ve heard about with banks and loans, based on their credit score, (9:05) where they live, and proprietary algorithmic models.
(9:09) That means two drivers with identical records can pay very different rates depending on
(9:14) their credit score and where they live. (9:16) Lower income drivers, guess what? (9:19) Often pay more. (9:20) So if we’re serious about affordability, Governor Hochul, let’s examine credit scoring, algorithmic (9:26) pricing, profit margins, executive compensation, and rate approval practises, not weaken the (9:34) rights of somebody who’s devastated by a car accident.
(9:36) Yeah, I mean, it’s so obvious. (9:38) This is why, you know, when people say she’s not so smart, she’s not making decisions based (9:43) on anything she understands at all. (9:45) Like when she got interviewed when she was running on a New York City station, and the (9:50) woman who was interviewing her said, you know, talked about the dangers of being on subways
(9:53) now.
(9:54) And I lived in the city most of my adult life, and I had no problem, but that was years ago.
(9:59) Now it’s a real major issue. (10:01) And her remark was, I just took the subway here this morning, everything was just fine.
(10:04) And the reporter, exactly what the reporter said. (10:13) How many Secret Service agents did you have with you? (10:16) You know, it’s just right. (10:17) She lives in this world of like, I have no idea, but I’m going to do what I’m told.
(10:22) It’s the democratic way now. (10:23) Somebody texted and we have texting in the newsroom. (10:26) Trial lawyers don’t defend fraud.
(10:28) Democrats do. (10:30) Absolutely. (10:32) Don’t defend fraud.
(10:34) Democrats do. (10:36) Yeah, listen, I don’t know how anybody with a straight face can afford, you know, whatever (10:41) you want to call it. (10:42) Defending fraud is is wrong.
(10:44) You know, these cases, they just make my blood boil, as well as any good trial lawyer that (10:50) I know that they do damage to the entire profession. (10:53) We walk into a jury room and we start talking to people. (10:56) We have to start out from behind the eight ball because jurors are already thinking, oh, (11:01) maybe this is one of these fraud cases.
(11:03) But most times jurors do the right thing. (11:05) And if you talk to them about your case, they put that aside and they say, oh, I see this (11:09) is not a fraud case. (11:10) So where there is fraud, we’re the first ones to run to the D.A., the district attorney (11:15) and to prosecutors and to make them aware of it.
(11:18) We don’t want this in our profession any more than you than you want unethical or unsophisticated (11:23) people running radio programmes. (11:25) So, I mean, we’re 100 percent against fraud. (11:30) Fraud is a crime.
(11:31) We want to prosecute it just like everybody else. (11:33) OK, let me remind our listeners we’re talking with Jeff Korek, who’s a past president (11:37) of New York State Trial Lawyers Association and 40 years of experience and lawyer of the (11:43) year in New York City under best lawyers three times for product liability litigation and (11:47) medical malpractice and personal injury. (11:50) Where in the city are you? (11:53) We’re downtown Manhattan by Wall Street and Broad, right next to Trinity Church.
(12:00) Oh, I know the base of Wall Street and Broadway. (12:03) Yeah. (12:03) And how often are the cemetery where Alexander Hamilton was buried? (12:08) Green is agreements.
(12:09) What’s an agreement? (12:10) Cemetery is it? (12:11) I’m trying to remember the name of the cemetery. (12:13) Trinity Church Cemetery. (12:14) Oh, it’s the one with the church.
(12:15) Right. (12:16) And I’m sure you go to Delmonico’s for dinner on occasion. (12:20) Yeah, that goes back.
(12:21) That goes back a long time when decisions were made by all white men sitting at a table
(12:25) 100 years ago. (12:26) But yeah, Delmonico’s has been here a long time. (12:28) Yeah, amazingly.
(12:31) So what tell people what they can do? (12:33) Because otherwise, they’re all going to be everybody who’s listening right now, your (12:37) family, your friends, everybody, you know, is going to be highly affected by this. (12:41) Because there are car accidents. (12:43) There’s nothing I can say to stop them.
(12:45) There are car accidents. (12:47) And so if you want. (12:48) And there are people who are devastated families that are ruined.
(12:51) And what what your listeners need to do is get on the phones. (12:55) Number one, two emails and three and probably most important, make an appointment to go (13:00) see your local legislator, whether it’s your assembly person, your congressperson, whoever (13:05) it might be, and let them know how you feel about this particular issue. (13:10) And don’t be fooled by the commercials that are being run by the ride share programmes like (13:16) Uber all over TV that are coming soon and are already on the airwaves and the different (13:21) pieces, op ed pieces that are coming out.
(13:23) There are many against it that are telling the truth. (13:26) But Uber has a significant stake in all this. (13:29) And let’s not be fooled either.
(13:32) Uber is no longer, you know, should be thought of as the person picking you up at the airport. (13:37) Instead, Uber is a multibillion dollar international company that has every motive to see if they (13:45) can lessen what gets paid out if one of their drivers gets into an accident.
(13:49) That’s not protecting the driver or the victim.
(13:51) It’s protecting Uber, the company. (13:53) That’s correct. (13:54) Well, somebody just texted in.
(13:55) God forbid you get hurt and end up with lifelong disability. (13:58) How do you limit the cost of that? (14:00) That expenses alone could bankrupt you. (14:02) No doubt.
(14:03) We’ve seen it with medical insurance also. (14:05) Same thing. (14:07) How would you like to be told that the highest you can get, no matter what happens, is $100,000 (14:11) cap?
(14:12) That’s what Governor Hochul has in mind.
(14:13) I don’t understand how that helps the little guy. (14:16) All it does is help the insurance companies and help Uber and the ride share programmes. (14:20) Now, how are you getting out information besides doing these interviews? (14:24) Because you really deem to do this en masse, because I was not even aware of this.
(14:28) And I’m pretty aware of everything that’s going on politically. (14:31) So this is… (14:33) Yeah, unfortunately, the trial lawyers, no matter what the image may be, don’t have the (14:37) money to compete with an Uber, because that’s a multibillion dollar company. (14:41) And we are, in part, funded by our members and by good government groups.
(14:50) I know the Centre for Justice and Democracy recently put out studies, and there are other (14:55) studies that are trying to get to the bottom of this. (14:58) And believe it or not, we are making district visits and talking to legislators, particularly (15:04) in the Assembly and the State Senate, who understand the issue and are looking to us (15:09) to provide information.
(15:11) So you’re out there lobbying? (15:12) Yeah.
(15:12) Good. (15:13) Yeah, but if it gets done through the budget, all the lobbying in the world won’t help, (15:17) because this can be done unilaterally. (15:19) Let me explain this to the listening audience.
(15:21) I know this as inside. (15:23) Republicans have told me that when you go up there and you want to get a bill passed, (15:27) what they do is they stick it in everything they want.
(15:30) And they tell you, if you want your bill passed, you got to say yes to everything is in that
(15:35) bill.
(15:35) This is the game playing that goes on up there. (15:37) So folks, you’re not going to see it separately, because they want this passed. (15:42) She obviously has some kind of deal with insurance companies.
(15:46) It’s so blatant. (15:48) There’s no other reason. (15:49) You can’t be that stupid.
(15:51) There’s no other reason that she would even consider something like this unless she has (15:55) some kind of hand in it. (15:57) It’s just mind-boggling to me. (15:59) Could you do me a favour and send a press release to me so I can get it out to all the media (16:03) I deal with? (16:05) We will absolutely do that.
(16:07) And I appreciate you asking me that. (16:09) Yeah, thank you. (16:09) Yeah, my pleasure, because this is for the people, and that’s what we’re here for.
(16:13) We’re the number one community radio station because we believe in all our communities, (16:17) New York and New Jersey. (16:18) And so this is really important for people to hear. (16:21) Don’t listen to the rhetoric and the advertising.
(16:23) These are people paying for things to change your mind. (16:26) We’re going to give you the facts. (16:27) And guess what? (16:28) The trial lawyers, you know, again, notwithstanding the fact that people hear trial lawyers and (16:32) they already have their own images.
(16:33) But the fact is Uber is not coming to us for help. (16:37) Rideshare programmes, corporations. (16:39) The people we represent are the community, the people who work, nurses, doctors, teachers, (16:44) and others who come to us.
(16:45) Those are the clients. (16:47) And so that’s who we’re trying to at least get the word out for on their behalf. (16:51) Trial lawyers are doing okay.
(16:52) It’s a question of helping the people that we represent. (16:56) You have anything to ask, Neil, or comment? (16:58) No, we’re just pretty well covered. (17:00) Yeah, it’s terrible.
(17:01) It really is. (17:02) Give me back those cookies or they’re terrible. (17:04) That’s my last word.
(17:06) That’s all I can say. (17:06) Listen, he’s living on a prayer right now. (17:10) The only thing I was going to ask about, Jeff, if I take that six-month-old cookie (17:15) and throw it at Taylor and hit her, will you represent me in court? (17:18) No, he just heard you.
(17:19) Not a chance. (17:21) He’s a very smart lawyer. (17:23) I guess I’ll wait on that then.
(17:26) Just keep in mind, Frank, you also have to live with me. (17:28) There you go. (17:30) So that could be a problem.
(17:32) Jeff, thank you so much for fighting the good fight. (17:35) Keep it up. (17:35) We’ll have you on again, and I will make sure that press release gets out to all the media (17:39) I’m involved with.
(17:41) Very important. (17:42) Somebody actually just texted in and said, thank you for all the valuable information (17:48) about the insurance industry. (17:50) I had no idea this was going on.
(17:52) I’m sure I can’t be the only one. (17:54) Well, that’s absolutely true, and we’re going to try to change that. (17:56) That’s great.
(17:56) Yeah, love it. (17:57) That’s great. (17:58) Thanks to both of you, really, for getting the word out and for having guests like me (18:02) on.
(18:02) I think this is really important. (18:03) I agree. (18:04) Protecting, as I said, so many people.
(18:07) So thank you. (18:08) Yeah, listen, we’re a real radio station. (18:11) So we also have 6,000 Billboard charted songs in our rotation.
(18:14) Nobody does that. (18:16) So what we are is radio that wants to actually be part of the community. (18:20) So that means giving you information that actually helps you.
(18:23) Try that. (18:25) So yeah, we’re there. (18:27) Excellent.
(18:27) Yeah. (18:27) So Jeff, definitely we’ll be talking to you again. (18:30) Do you know when this is going to be voted on? (18:33) This is all going down in the next few weeks because this governor’s got a budget, and (18:37) she’s trying to, forgive my language, but sneak it into the budget.
(18:42) But that’s exactly what’s going on without the public or the Assembly or the Senate really (18:46) getting a chance to weigh in on it. (18:50) Our assemblyman is going to be there.
(18:51) It’s our responsibility to fight it.
(18:53) Yeah. (18:53) We’ll talk to Carl on Friday. (18:55) Our assemblyman comes in every Friday to be on the air with us.
(18:57) We have a lot of… (18:58) That’s great. (18:59) Yeah. (18:59) We have a lot of political elected officials on the air with us every day.
(19:03) So we will be definitely coming after him to make sure that he gets this stuff. (19:07) I don’t know how he can. (19:08) Yeah, because he’s a Republican.
(19:10) Exactly. (19:11) Well, we’ll figure it out. (19:14) They’re not completely without their power to influence the governor.
(19:18) And if she’s listening or cares, she’ll pay attention, hopefully. (19:22) Yeah. (19:22) Somebody said it’s insane.
(19:23) Somebody texted this in just now. (19:25) It’s insane when a pickup truck cost is up to 100 grand. (19:29) So your quality of life has less monetary value than the pickup.
(19:33) Wow. (19:33) Wow. (19:34) Yeah, that’s right.
(19:35) Putting it in perspective. (19:36) That’s a good comment. (19:37) That’s a great comparison.
(19:38) We have very smart listeners, by the way, Jeff. (19:40) We do. (19:40) They’re smarter than us.
(19:41) Yeah, that’s for sure. (19:43) They’re listening to us. (19:45) That’s right.
(19:45) Well, we appreciate you coming on the air. (19:46) Thank you, Jeff. (19:47) Keep up the great fight.
(19:49) Yep. (19:50) Great. (19:50) Thanks so much for having me on.
(19:52) Thank you. (19:52) Good luck to both of you. (19:53) Thank you.
(19:53) You too. (19:54) Bye-bye.