Do Hospitals and Health Insurance Companies Work Together?
Beware that sometimes a hospital will not file a claim against the health insurance provider of a person who has been injured in an accident and will instead file a hospital lien. The reason that hospitals would not bill your health insurance is they are betting they can make more money when there is a recovery from a third party auto insurer. Don’t let hospitals get away with failing to bill your health insurance.
If a hospital bills the injured person’s health insurer, it will often receive a significantly reduced rate for contracted services. In a conspiracy to make more money, hospitals will not bill the insurance provider and instead demand the injured person to pay their hospital bills once they receive a judgment or settlement for their claim against the party that injured them. Always insist that your health insurance is billed. Use any source of insurance that you have to minimize your liability as your bodily injury claim progresses. This will increase your net recovery, not the hospital’s.
Understanding How a Medical Lien Will Impact Your Personal Injury Settlement
When you’ve been injured in an accident that another person or entity caused, you can bring a personal injury claim to recoup your losses, including medical expenses. Your health insurer or the hospital that provided medical services may be eligible to file a lien to recover money from the proceeds of your settlement.
Put simply, a medical lien is the hospital’s way of demanding repayment for the medical services they provided to you. Your health insurer may also have a clause in your health insurance policy which requires you to reimburse them for your medical benefits. This is known as the subrogation claim, in which the insurer can pursue repayment from your personal injury settlement or judgment. An experienced personal injury attorney can help minimize or waive the asserted subrogation claim, further maximizing your net recovery.
However, it is immensely crucial to know that the hospital must bill your health insurer, which must then pay for the treatment covered under your health insurance policy. You may need to pay back your insurer a portion of the bills they paid, but the amount you may need to repay would be much lower than uncovered medical expenses.
But this scenario will not benefit the hospital. To further the hospital’s goal of making more money and the insurer’s goal of saving money, the hospital may not file your medical bills with your insurer. When this happens, you must pay 100% of the medical bills from the proceeds of your claim instead of settling for the reduced rate your insurer would’ve paid.
This may significantly reduce your compensation. Your insurer also wins because they won’t have to pay a cent, even if you’re legally entitled to the coverage that you’ve been paying for.
Speak to an Experienced Suwanee Personal Injury Lawyer Today
Dealing with injuries, insurance providers, and hospitals can be confusing, time-consuming, and overwhelming. If you or a loved one has sustained serious injuries in an accident, navigating all the twists, turns, ups, and downs of an insurance claim is the last thing you need.
You do not want to be on the hook for costly medical expenses, and you also want to ensure that you receive maximum compensation for your losses. Your compensation must include all your medical costs, pain and suffering, lost income, and other accident-associated damages.
The Suwanee personal injury lawyers of Banks, Stubbs & McFarland will guide you throughout the entire process, ease the stress and worries that come with it, and ensure that you get fairly compensated for your losses. Contact us online or call 770-887-1209 to set up your appointment with our Suwanee personal injury lawyer today.