If you’ve been injured in an accident and found out that there are medical liens against your personal injury settlement, you need to speak with an experienced personal injury lawyer right away. Contact us online or call now to schedule your free consultation.
Brad Parker, the founder of Parker Law Firm, tell us what you should know about your personal injury case before meeting with an attorney.
A medical lien occurs when a healthcare provider has provided medical services to someone that has been in an accident or injured due to the negligent actions of another person and has not been paid for their services. When someone has received medical treatment and is seeking monetary compensation from the guilty person or their insurance carrier, the medical provider can place a lien on that settlement if the bill has not been paid prior to any recovery. Healthcare providers may allow small monthly payments to keep a bill in good standing and prevent a report to collections.
Under Texas Property Code 55.002(a), if you are injured due to the negligence of another such that you may bring a claim against them to recover for damages done, the hospital lien for the related care attaches to your claim immediately. For the lien to attach, the patient must be admitted to the hospital for emergency medical services within 72 hours of the event that caused the need for the care.
Liens are only applied for emergency hospital care, which can be defined as services provided in a hospital to evaluate, stabilize, and treat a serious medical problem of recent onset or severity, including severe pain that would lead a prudent layperson possessing an average knowledge of medicine and health to believe that the condition, illness, or injury is of such a nature that failure to obtain immediate medical care would in all reasonable probability:
If you have been in an accident that has resulted in property damage or personal injury, at some point you may hear the term “subrogation.” This means one person or party stands in the place of another.
Subrogation comes into effect when a person has been injured and someone other than the person at fault pays for all or some of the damages resulting from the injury. The most common use of subrogation is by insurance companies that seek subrogation to recover the money they paid for medical expenses on behalf of the injured person.
There are two types of liens that can be asserted on a personal injury award: contractual and statutory.
A contractual lien is a claim for repayment based on an agreement between the medical provider and the injured party. Contractual liens may be asserted by:
Statutory liens are claims for repayment that are presumed by statute. Statutory liens may be asserted by:
Other types of legitimate lien holders in personal injury claims can include:
Those that have health insurance and paid their medical expenses should check to see if there is a lien interest on the settlement funds. Medical liens or reimbursement demands from health insurance carriers are generally a complicated part of the whole settlement process.
Lien resolution is the case after the case for our auto accident attorneys. Each healthcare provider has a right of reimbursement from the underlying settlement that should be assessed, and that possible right is governed by distinct laws.
If you are in an accident victim and agree to a medical lien to pay for your medical care and then lose the personal injury case, you will still be liable under the lien. This means that the victim will be personally responsible for paying their medical bills under the lien agreement. If the victim cannot pay, the healthcare provider and lienholder can invoke their legal rights to collect the debt.
It’s important for clients to understand that they shouldn’t assume that if they haven’t heard from worker’s comp, or your health or auto insurance company that they waived their claim against settlement proceeds. Some states have a statute of limitations on medical liens that can last for years after your settlement.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the monetary damages from collisions are substantial, with deaths from traffic crashes alone costing $55 billion per year in collective medical and lost wage costs. Medical liens are negotiable, both before and after the agreement has been signed. Many doctors are wary of negotiating. Before the lien agreement has been signed, it can be negotiated like any other contract. Oftentimes doctors don’t want to go through the legal hassle of changing the terms of their lien offer.
Our car accident attorneys help victims find a healthcare provider that offers good terms for the lien. After the lien agreement has been signed, it can still be altered if both sides agree. This situation often arises if the victim received a substantial amount of care, but then lost his or her personal injury claim. It is common to negotiate medical bills and liens after settling a case. Experienced Texas personal injury lawyers can often get these reduced significantly.
Medical liens can cost thousands of dollars that you didn’t expect to pay. Even if you’ve already settled your injury claim, you might benefit from contacting a personal injury lawyer to help manage your medical liens. Trying to interpret legal forms, billing codes, and contract language on your own can be a nightmare.
Negotiating a reduction of your debt takes time and persistence. You won’t get it done in one phone call. Government medical liens might not show up for several years. State laws allow some types of medical liens to survive for years after your personal injury settlement. Some liens, like Medicaid liens, may even survive after your death.
The Texas personal injury lawyers at Parker Law Firm negotiate large medical liens regularly. We know what to say and who to contact to get results for our clients.
Bedford Office
Directions & Information
Phone: 817-503-9200
Fort Worth Office
Directions & Information
Phone: 817-510-9400
By appointment only
