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Hospital Liens After a Crash: How to Keep More Money After a Settlement
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Hospital Liens After a Crash: How to Keep More Money After a Settlement
If you have been involved in a serious motor vehicle collision or suffered a traumatic brain injury because of a catastrophic accident, the world can seem like it is falling apart. Not only are you dealing with numerous questions and worries, but on top of it all, you now have to worry about your extensive medical bills that keep piling up. Luckily, you have a lawsuit pending that you hope will cover these astronomical bills; but, what if it doesn’t? What if, instead, the hospital ends up with a windfall at your expense, and you are left with virtually nothing?
This may seem like an unimaginable situation, but it does occur. Fortunately, we are here to tell you that this does not have to happen to you. In this blog post, we will dive into hospital liens, discussing what they are, what types of problems they can cause, and what you can do to protect the compensation you deserve.
Georgia’s Hospital Lien Statute
Under Georgia law, when an individual is injured in an accident and the hospital provides them with medical care, the hospital can file a lien against any cause of action that is related to the injury. A hospital lien is a legal claim that the hospital is entitled to a portion of the money recovered by the patient in any settlement or lawsuit. One important aspect to note about these liens is that they are not a lien on the person but rather a lien on the personal injury action for the expenses related to the patient’s care.
A medical lien is allowed for treatment that is rendered to a patient by:
- Hospitals
- A Physician’s Practice
- A Licensed Physician
- Nursing Home Facilities
- Intensive Care Clinics or Facilities
- Any individual, authority, firm, or corporation operating as such an entity
This medical lien “attaches” when the hospital or the medical provider starts a patient’s treatment and can be filed 75 days after the patient is discharged or 90 days after the patient seeks medical care.
Why is a Hospital Lien a Problem For Victims?
Yes, hospitals deserve to get paid for the care they provide. However, these medical care facilities also should provide these services for a reasonable amount. This is where the problem lies. Hospitals usually list prices for every single supply or service that they offer in their chargemaster. Generally, these rates are incredibly high. But most hospitals do not collect these rates, as they give health insurance companies much lower prices. That is why when an individual with insurance is treated at a hospital, the facility does not collect as much money as one might expect.
For these reasons, when a lawsuit is involved, the hospital takes it as an opportunity to make up for the funds they have lost out on, and they file a lien for the high chargemaster rates. Even if a victim has health insurance, the hospital may not bill this insurance. Rather, they will file a lien to go after the lawsuit or settlement compensation. Worse yet, hospitals often get away with this practice because patients do not know they can challenge them.
Attack The Lien
Whether you endured debilitating injuries in a catastrophic accident, suffered life-long harm in a car accident, or now have permanent damage because of a traumatic brain injury, you need funds to help you get through this challenging time in your life. Do not let this money slip away because the hospital has filed an unreasonable lien. Instead, let an experienced personal injury attorney attack these unfair lien practices.
- Verify Enforceability: When you work with a knowledgeable personal injury attorney, these lawyers know the tricks hospitals play and how they try to get more money from you than they should. That is why one of the first things your lawyer can do is inspect their lien. If a hospital does not strictly comply with the statutory law when they filed their lien, your attorney can attack to strike it down because adherence to the statute is required for the hospital to have an enforceable lien.
- Reasonable Charges: Your lawyer can also check whether your hospital bill is reasonable. Everyone knows that if an uninsured patient is treated in a hospital or emergency room, they will be left with a hospital bill that is incredibly inflated. That is why your attorney can quickly verify if the services you were charged for are reasonable. They will examine if you were charged for diagnostic testing or actual triage treatment, and whether the services you were charged for match your injuries. If they do not, your attorney can fight these outrageous charges.
- Negotiations:It is also possible to have your lawyer contact the lien holder and try to negotiate a compromise agreement. Meaning that your lawyer can try to get the lien holder to agree to resolve the lien issue for less than the full amount that was requested.
Dealing with Hospital Liens
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, you should be able to get the medical care you need without agonizing about how you will pay for your medical bills. More importantly, you should get charged a fair price for the services you receive and not worry these prices will be inflated because the hospital wants to receive more money from a lawsuit. Luckily, you do not have to go through this stressful ordeal on your own. With the help of an experienced Woodstock Georgia personal injury attorney, you can get the help you need. These lawyers are well-versed in these hospital lien practices and can help verify that the medical bills you received are reasonable, and if a lien is filed, that it strictly complies with Georgia’s statutes.
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