Paying medical bills is one of the most difficult issues a person must deal with after an accident or personal injury. Medical expenses are part of the economic damages in a personal injury case.
If you cannot pay the medical bills from your accident, the hospital or medical provider may place a lien against your personal injury settlement.
The medical lien ensures healthcare providers receive payment for their services if they receive compensation for a personal injury claim.
Overview of Texas Laws for Medical Liens
A lien is a legal claim against your assets or property. Medical liens are intended to protect healthcare professionals and give them a way to collect the money you owe them for medical treatment.
Texas Property Code §55.002 states that a hospital has a lien on any action or claim that a person has against another party who negligently caused the person to sustain injuries. In other words, the hospital that provided treatment for your car accident has a medical lien against any settlement or jury verdict you receive from the party who caused the car accident. The law only applies to accidents and other personal injury claims based on negligence.
When Can a Hospital Have a Medical Lien?
However, the statute restricts the medical lien to very specific situations. For the hospital to have a lien, the following criteria must apply:
- Treatment must have been provided within 72 hours of the injury or accident.
- The lien is limited to accident-related emergency care.
- The lien must be filed in the county where the hospital is located.
- The lien amount cannot exceed the reasonable amount that is customarily charged for medical services.
- The notice of lien must include the patient’s name and address, the accident date, the name and address of the hospital, and the name of the person liable for the patient’s injury.
- The line must be filed before the patient receives a settlement for their personal injury claim.
- Hospital liens are only applicable to the first 100 days of the person’s hospitalization.
- The hospital can only take the lesser of the amount owed for the first 100 days of hospitalization or 50% of the total amount recovered by the injured party.
Hospital liens are public records. It allows all interested parties to have notice of the lien. Medical lines appear on credit reports as public records. When you settle your accident case, you must pay the lien. Generally, the amount of the lien is deducted from the settlement proceeds before you receive any money for your damages.
What Determines the Validity of a Lien?
If you do not pay the medical lien, the hospital can sue you to collect the amount. In addition to the lien amount, the hospital can ask the court to include attorneys’ fees and court costs in the amount it recovers for the lien.
Hospital liens do not apply to wrongful death claims. The liens do not apply to insurance benefits paid from:
- PIP (Personal Injury Protection)
- Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage
- Workers’ compensation benefits
- Life insurance proceeds
- Survival action benefits
It is in your best interest to consult with an experienced Texas personal injury attorney for help with hospital liens. An attorney identifies medical liens filed against you and determines whether the liens are valid. They work to negotiate payoffs to medical providers to put as much money in the victim’s pocket as possible.
Can the Ems Provider File a Medical Line on Personal Injury Settlements in Texas?
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) may also place a medical lien on personal injury proceeds. The criteria for EMS liens are:
- The population in the county where the EMS provider is located must be 800,000 or less.
- The EMS services must have been provided within 72 hours after the accident and directly related to injuries sustained in the accident.
- The maximum amount of an EMS lien is $1,000.
Emergency room doctors cannot file hospital liens on personal injury settlements. The fees for their services may be included in the hospital lien as employees of the hospital.
Medical and Subrogation Liens in Personal Injury Cases for Doctors and Other Medical Providers
You may not be able to pay your doctors and other medical providers after an accident. If so, you may have a couple of options. You might sign an agreement with the medical provider to postpone payment or file the medical bills with your health insurance.
Letters of Protection and Medical Liens
You can agree to pay your medical providers from your personal injury settlement in exchange for them providing services without immediate payment. If you do not recover enough money to pay the medical bills, you are personally responsible for the bills.
Generally, the medical provider requires a Letter of Protection from your attorney. Some providers might require you to sign a formal agreement, which becomes a binding contract. If you fail to pay, the provider can sue you for the outstanding bills.
Subrogation Claims
If your health insurance company pays medical bills related to an accident, the company can exercise its subrogation rights. Under subrogation clauses, the insurance company has the right to recover the money it paid for medical bills related to the accident from the proceeds you receive from a settlement or a jury verdict.
Subrogation clauses are included in most health insurance policies. It also applies to payments made by Medicare and Medicaid.
Negotiating Medical Liens in Personal Injury Cases
Your attorney must perform a medical lien search to determine if any liens have been filed. They must also verify with each of your medical providers whether you have outstanding balances that must be paid. Your attorney also determines whether there are subrogation claims in your case.
Experienced personal injury lawyers work to negotiate payoffs for medical liens. They develop compelling arguments as to why the insurance company, hospital, or medical provider should accept a lower amount to settle the claim.
For example, you sustained catastrophic injuries that resulted in life-altering disabilities. However, the amount you received does not compensate you fully for all damages. Therefore, in the interests of justice, it would be fair for the medical provider or insurance company to reduce their lien amount.
Insurance companies and medical providers are not required to negotiate their liens. However, our skilled team at Anderson Injury Lawyers may be able to convince them to take a lower payment in some situations. You can contact us online or call (817) 294-1900 today.