Question: I was in a wreck a couple of months ago, and I had three broken ribs and a broken leg. Since then, I received a letter from the hospital that they put a lien on me. What is this about?
BILL: In brief, this is about the hospital getting paid. It might not surprise you, but the state of Alabama has passed a law that favors medical facilities (they have a pretty big lobby effort to protect their interests).
Filing a lien is standard practice so they can protect their rights. Don’t be overly concerned. No one is coming after you … at least not right now.
What the hospital is trying to do is make sure an insurance company does not settle with you before seeing that the hospital bill is paid. They really don’t want to fight with you directly if they can avoid it.
So here is what surprises many of my clients – by law, the hospital and other emergency providers can claim part of your lawsuit settlement to pay off the bill.
Again, don’t panic. Here is the reality. If you have insurance, this is not a problem. Everyone will get paid. However, this is why you need a lawyer. What the hospital charges and what needs to get paid is a negotiation. I do this type of negotiation every day. This might surprise you, but when I first started out, I was on the insurance company’s end, fighting to pay out the least. Now, I work 100% for injured people to get them the most money. My years working for the insurance guys taught me a lot about their tricks.
Here, in very simple terms, is what could happen. We sue the guy who hit you, and his insurance pays. He doesn’t have enough? We will go after your own insurance to pay up. You don’t have any or enough insurance? We go after the hospital to greatly lower or forgive the bill. They often do this because if you don’t have insurance, and I mean this respectfully, you probably don’t have much cash in the bank to pay them.
I tell clients all the time that though this sounds scary, it is what a lawyer does. We understand the system and how it works.
CALL BILL
Injured? You can call Bill directly at 251-255-5000. He will talk to you for free. Plus, watch Bill every Sunday night at 10:30 on NBC 15 LawCall, our legal TV show, here in Mobile. Hosted by Andrea Ramey, it is on right after the news.