Dealing with medical bills after an accident can be frustrating and stressful. You need medical care, but you don’t have the money to pay medical bills. If you are seriously injured and out of work, paying for expensive medical treatments such as surgery, physical therapy, and rehabilitation may be impossible. What are you supposed to do to receive the medical care you need if you can’t afford to pay the bills?
Handling a personal injury case can be overwhelming. Hiring an attorney can relieve much of the stress so that you can focus on your recovery.
Health Insurance Coverage
Fortunately for some people, their health insurance company pays the medical bills from the accident. However, the health insurance company has a subrogation claim against any proceeds from a personal injury case. A subrogation claim protects the insurance company by allowing it to recover any amount it pays for medical bills related to the accident claim. In other words, we must pay your health insurance company back for medical bills it paid from the money we receive from the other party’s insurance company.
Medical Liens
Many medical providers understand the process of filing a personal injury case. They understand that you won’t receive any money until the case is settled. Therefore, most medical providers agree to accept a medical lien to continue providing treatment without immediate payment for services.
A medical lien is much like a subrogation claim. The lien allows the medical provider to be paid from the proceeds of settlement before you receive any money. For hospitals, Indiana has set up a special statute entitled the Indiana Hospital Lien Statute that dictates when and how hospitals can place a medical lien on proceeds and how the liens are to be paid.
What If I Don’t Pay the Medical Liens?
There can be serious consequences if you don’t pay medical liens when you receive your settlement. A medical lien is a legal claim. If you refuse to pay the lien, the medical provider can take actions under the law to collect the lien.
If you hired an attorney to handle your personal injury case, your attorney might be able to negotiate a lower amount to satisfy medical liens. In some cases, the insurance coverage available from the other party doesn’t cover all damages in a personal injury case.
Our lawyers often work with medical providers to lower their liens so you can receive some compensation for your other damages such as physical pain, emotional suffering, and lost wages. There is no guarantee we can lower a medical lien; however, we aggressively fight for you to receive as much compensation as possible for your personal injury case.
Call an Indiana Personal Injury Lawyer for Help
Have you been injured in an accident? We want to help you receive as much money for your personal injury case as possible. The sooner we begin working on your behalf, the better we can protect your best interests. We accept personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. You don’t pay us unless we win a settlement or jury verdict for you!
Call The Ken Nunn Law Office at 1-800-CALL-KEN or 1-800-225-5536 to schedule a free legal consultation and no-obligation case evaluation with an experienced Indiana personal injury attorney.
