If you’ve been hurt by someone else’s negligence and you need medical treatment, you should get that treatment and use your health insurance (if you have it) to pay for your treatment.
Even simple personal injury claims can take months or years to resolve, you can’t depend on the other person’s liability insurance to pay your bills, and your providers don’t have to wait until your case is finished before they bill you.
Many types of health insurance, however, will have a lien on your personal injury recovery, whether you get a settlement or go all the way to a jury verdict.
A “lien” is a legal term that simply means a guaranteed right of repayment for a debt.
If your health insurance has a lien, it means they have paid for your treatment, and now, by law, they are entitled to repaid for the expenses they paid out on your behalf.
However, it’s critical to know that not every plan which claims to have a lien will really have one.
Public plans, like Medicare, Medicaid, TriCare, and state and local municipal plans, are all likely to have some type of lien. Some private plans (mostly for larger employers) may have a contractural right to reimbursement, but those are limited, and are not really liens. However, many companies that claim they have these rights do NOT.
Many private health insurance plans will employ outside companies to try and get money from your claim. Most of these companies are barely operating within the law, and at least one of the major ones was fined a huge sum of money for lying to consumers.
Our lawyers have been handling cases like yours for over 50 years. They know how to determine which liens are legitimate, whether private plans actually have rights of repayment, and how to negotiate with all those plans. Additionally, many public plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, have limitations to improve your recovery that ONLY work if you hire a lawyer.
Contact us today by clicking here or calling us at 919-348-4361 for a free consultation.
Protecting Your Credit Rating and Your Personal Injury Claim
