reimbursement

Published on: August 31, 2020

How Settlement Mill Lawyers Harm Car Accident Victims: Bad Deals On Medical Reimbursement / Subrogation

In a prior post, I discussed the secret arrangements where settlement mill lawyers funnel most of their clients to a favorite chiropractor who then runs-up the medical bills for settlement. The downside of this secret arrangement is that the injured person never receives proper care but is left paying the bulk of their settlement money to the lawyer and chiropractor. It’s a bad deal for the personal injury victim. It’s a shameful practice by settlement mill lawyers who neglect their clients.

What about injury victims who have health insurance or health coverage? Here’s a quick scenario. You suffered an injury in a car accident. After the wreck, you go to the local hospital and then follow-up with your doctors. You probably pay some co-pays. But, your health coverage pays many of the bills. If you have health coverage, you should use it to get the treatment you need. You then hire a lawyer to make a claim against the at-fault driver. Medical bills and personal injury claims can be a confusing topic. But, it’s a very important topic if you are facing a serious injury. If you would like more information about medical bills and personal injury cases, click the link below to my article discussing the topic.

The insurance company knows which lawyers go to court. Choose wisely. If you are seriously injured in a car accident, the choice of lawyer can make a huge difference in the insurance company’s offers to you. If you hire a settlement mill lawyer who is not willing to go to court, the insurance company is likely to pay less for your case. Why would the insurance company pay a fair settlement if the adjuster knows your lawyer will not go to court? Why would the insurance company pay a fair settlement if the adjuster knows your lawyer is simply advertising on billboards for volume cases that can be quickly settled? Why would the insurance company pay a fair settlement if the adjuster knows your lawyer is simply using a staff of non-lawyers to push claims through the system. But, getting a smaller settlement from the insurance company is not the only way you can lose with a settlement mill lawyer.

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Published on: May 18, 2020

Do Work Comp Insurance Carriers CHEAT Workers On Subrogation?

By Jeff Blackwell

What Personal Injury Cases Are At Issue?

If you are hurt on the job in Alabama, you are likely entitled to work comp benefits. What if you were hurt because someone else was also negligent? You still have a work comp case. If the negligent person was a co-worker, that’s probably all you have. With a few limited exceptions for things like intentional conduct, your employer (and co-workers) are immune from claims outside workers compensation.

Sometimes, the negligent person is a third-party. That is, the negligent person did not work for your employer. If you are hurt due to the negligence of another person (outside your employer), you may also have a separate personal injury claim to recover your damages. In these cases, you likely have BOTH a work comp claim and a negligence claim against the third-party.

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Published on: September 16, 2019

Four Ways The Lack Of Consistency And Transparency In Medical Charges Impacts Personal Injury Cases

By Jeff Blackwell

Injured and facing mounting hospital bills? If you find yourself in this situation, the medical bills and charges can be confusing and overwhelming. You probably have many questions. What are my actual medical charges? Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell. How much did my health insurance pay? Why is the hospital charging ten dollars for a single aspirin? None of it makes sense to most patients.

Our medical system suffers from a lack of consistency and lack of transparency in charges. I recently read a great article on LinkedIn that asks the question — Can Price Transparency Actually Lower Health Care Costs? The article discusses several issues, including surprise charges, price gouging and health insurer discounts. The author concludes it’s a “money game” of different prices for different people. This is certainly true for personal injury victims who often suffer the worst impacts of unfair and inconsistent medical costs.

Hospitals attempt to take advantage of personal injury victims for maximum profit. From the moment a personal injury victim enters a hospital, the unjust process begins. Why is the hospital admissions clerk so interested in whether the other driver is at-fault or has car insurance? Hospital greed, that’s why. The same is true for some clinics, chiropractors and physical therapy offices.

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Published on: July 18, 2016

Wrongful Death And Medical Reimbursement In Alabama

By Jeff Blackwell

I’ve written on several occasions about Alabama’s unique wrongful death law. Wrongful death claims in Alabama are very different. Chief among the issues that make Alabama wrongful death law different — only punitive damages are recoverable. You cannot recover compensatory damages for actual losses like medical costs.

Many lawyers advertise for wrongful death claims. Yet, they fail to understand fully the impact of Alabama’s unique law. And, this lack of understanding can have a tremendously negative impact on the overall recovery for clients.

An attorney’s entire preparation and trial strategy should be designed for the unique damages recoverable in Alabama. Yet, many attorneys prepare these cases as all other cases. That’s a mistake. It is short-sighted and costly for clients.

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Published on: August 17, 2015

Alabama Wrongful Death Case? Does Medicare Have Reimbursement Rights?

By Jeff Blackwell

Subrogation. Reimbursement. What do these concepts mean for personal injury cases? When you suffer a personal injury, your health insurer (or plan) pays your medical bills. For many people in Alabama, this means Blue Cross. It may also mean government programs like Medicare, Medicaid or Tricare. These health plans pay your bills. But, they usually have rights to recover their payments from your personal injury settlement. Their rights vary between private and government plans. I’ve addressed that issue in other articles.

The legal issues can be complex. And, understanding the rules (which differ between private and government plans) can make a huge difference in how much money you actually keep. This is an area where a skilled lawyer can really help you save money and maximize your final recovery.

What about wrongful death cases? Do health plans and programs have rights to reimbursement from wrongful death settlements? Does Medicare have reimbursement rights in Alabama wrongful death cases? I mention Medicare specifically because it covers so many people and also carries the weight of the government. While these insurers and plans do have reimbursement rights in personal injury claims, they don’t have the same rights in wrongful death claims.

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Published on: October 4, 2010

A Federal Court Limits Medicare’s Reimbursement Rights

By Jeff Blackwell

I’ve written some prior articles discussing Medicare’s rights to be reimbursed for medical payments from settlements or judgments in personal injury claims. It’s a topic lawyers should take seriously. As I stated in the past, dealing with Medicare can be an extremely frustrating experience. So, I am happy to report a recent court decision that, to some degree, requires Medicare to play by rules that apply to the rest of us.

On September 29, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit issued a decision in Bradley v. Sebelius. The case involved reimbursement claims by Medicare arising out of a wrongful death settlement in Florida. This case is a welcome decision for attorneys frustrated by the experience of dealing with Medicare. On his blog, Tennessee attorney John Day wrote a great analysis of this decision. I agree with John that the case involved some great lawyering by plaintiffs’ counsel.

In the case, the Federal Court rejected Medicare’s far-reaching argument that its own field manual was basically entitled to the force of law. In rejecting those claims, the Federal Court actually stated:

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Published on: February 5, 2010

Does Your Personal Injury Lawyer Understand Medical Reimbursement And Subrogation Issues? The Answer Can Be Very Important To Your Bottom Line.

By Jeff Blackwell

This morning, workers’ compensation attorney Jon Gelman published an interesting note on his blog about a recent Medicare recovery case filed here in Alabama. The case involves the United States seeking to recover medical payments made by Medicare on behalf of several injured individuals.

This Alabama Medicare case raises an often misunderstood and complicated issue we must handle on a daily basis. Most injury victims have some type of health coverage that pays their medical bills. For many, coverage is provided by private insurance like Blue Cross. For others, government programs provide coverage. These government programs include Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare or the Veterans’ Administration. When we seek medical care, our particular coverage provides some level of payment. Each plan or program possesses unique rights to be reimbursed for their payments if an injured individual recovers compensation from some third party. So, you need to deal with these issues in your personal injury lawsuit.

Many personal injury attorneys seem concerned with simply signing the client and settling the claim. They want you to “call them” and they want to make a quick settlement with the insurance company. That’s it. It’s wrong. It’s bad for you.

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