Private Medical Insurance Liens Against Your Personal Injury Settlement

You may be surprised to learn that your health insurance provider has the right to assert a lien for the repayment of benefits paid on your behalf with regard to your personal injury case. This is what’s called demand for subrogation.   Subrogation is premised upon the concept that a person should not have their medical bills paid twice, once by his/her health insurer, and a second time in the form of a settlement or judgment for damages. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 111, §§70A-70D set forth the procedure whereby a health care provider may perfect a lien. The statute expressly provides that written notice of a lien must be sent via certified mail return-receipt requested to the injured party, his or her attorney, and the insurer prior to the third-party settlement. If you fail or refuse to pay the insurance lien, you can be sued by your private insurance company for repayment of the lien amount and denied future coverage.

It is crucial to obtain a copy of the contract language from your health insurance plan to determine what rights your health insurance company may have. Most contract language limits recovery to third party liability cases and insurers do not have a right to settlement funds from Uninsured Motorist cases or Underinsured Motorist cases.

Prior to the completion of your personal injury case it is important to ensure that you have exhausted your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Coverage on your automobile insurance policy including MEDPAY, and that the bills reportedly paid by your private health insurance provider have, in fact, been paid and are related to the injuries you sustained in the accident.

When it comes to the payment of liens, attorneys can often negotiate a reduction of the lien amount held by your private health insurance company, ultimately giving you a greater net recovery.

Negotiating with a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) is often easier than with a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) since HMOs operate by paying hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers a specific amount each year for every patient they see, regardless of the amount of treatment any single patient receives. When you negotiate a medical lien reduction with an HMO it is important to understand that they’ve already paid the provider their fee.  PPOs differ from HMOs in that a PPO pays providers separately for each of the services they provide but the providers agree to accept lower fees in exchange for being part of the PPO network (with the potential for attracting more patients). Basically, HMOs negotiate with their own money, whereas PPOs negotiate with the medical provider’s money.

At Baker, Braverman and Barbadoro, P.C., we have experienced personal injury attorneys that can both handle your personal injury case and successfully negotiate your lien allowing you to  keep more of your settlement. – Christine T. LaRose.

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Child Off to College? Free Seminar for Parents to Provide Three Critical Legal, Medical and Financial Protections Their Child May Need

The Quincy Law Firm of Baker, Braverman & Barbadoro, P.C., in conjunction with the South Shore Bank, invites parents of students headed off to college — even if it is not their first year – to a free seminar to assist them in preparing for an unexpected adversity.  Scheduled for August 23^rd, this seminar provides three important tools to protect against some serious legal, medical and financial difficulties that can occur when your over-18 year old child leaves home.

Entitled Three Critical but Easy Protections to Put in Place for Your College-Bound Child, this 45-minute seminar will be conducted at the South Shore Bank Operations Center at 1584 Main Street, Weymouth (adjacent to the Main Office on Route 18) on August 23^rd.  It will be offered at both 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The presenters include:

• Elizabeth Caruso, Esq., an estate planning attorney with Baker Braverman & Barbadoro, P.C. She will discuss the importance of Healthcare Proxies and Durable Powers of Attorney for college students.
• Phillip Melanson, Vice President and an Infinex Investment Executive at South Shore Bank, will present on important benefits of Life Insurance for college-aged students.
• Jacqueline Hurstak, Retail Officer/Branch Manager South Shore Bank, who will discuss important guidelines for the security and safe use of student checking accounts and debit cards.

If you wish to attend, you must RSVP to Jacqueline Hurstak (jhurstak@sssb.com, (781) 682-3715 or to Amy Morin (amym@bbb-lawfirm.com), (781) 848-9610 by August 21^st.

Baker, Braverman & Barbadoro P.C. is a Quincy, Massachusetts law firm representing clients in matters involving litigation, business/corporate, real estate, elder law/estate planning, divorce/family law, employment, finance, probate, criminal defense, tax, bankruptcy and election law. Their team of talented attorneys maintains a broad spectrum of skills in order to guide their clients through the complexities of today’s ever changing legal landscape.

Originally chartered in 1833, South Shore Bank is a full-service community bank with assets of approximately $1 billion and 16 locations.  All deposits are insured in full.  The FDIC insures all deposits up to $250,000 per depositor and up to $250,000 per depositor for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs); all deposits above this amount are insured by the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF).  For more information, visit http://ift.tt/2uEGLUB.

Investment products and services are offered through INFINEX INVESTMENTS, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. The Investment Center at South Shore Bank is a trade name of the Bank.  Infinex and the Bank are not affiliated.  Products and services made available through Infinex are not insured by the FDIC or any other agency of the United States and are not deposits or obligations of nor guaranteed or insured by any Bank or Bank affiliate.  These products are subject to investment risk, including the possible loss of value.

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The Bank’s Attorney Is The Bank’s Attorney—Not Yours

When you have decided to purchase a home in Massachusetts, you have undoubtedly made a life-altering expensive decision.  Once the offer to purchase has been accepted by the seller, the first question your broker will likely ask you is whether you intend to hire your own attorney to assist and guide you through the next steps or whether you intend on settling with the attorney the bank will select to represent it with the financing.

Of course, this is not an easy decision.  Cost is always a consideration.  Frankly, if your financing is locked in, your lender will already have selected the bank attorney and he/she will gladly offer you the opportunity to “piggy back” the bank’s representation by using the same lawyer.   Often this service is offered at a significantly reduced fee.  Makes perfect sense, right?  Not always.

While most residential real estate transactions proceed to a closing very smoothly– some do not–and it’s in those rare occasions you will wish you had an attorney representing you.  For example, what if the seller had agreed to leave all of the appliances and furniture with the home, and when you did your final walk-through of the property in advance of closing they were not there.  This has happened.   Will the “bank attorney” help you through this situation and ensure that you receive appropriate credit or other compensation for this?  Probably not, as the bank attorney’s alliance is to his or her primary client, the bank.  You will be on your own in negotiating a resolution in this scenario.

What if, between the time of your inspection and closing, the roof has developed significant leaks or there has been other damage to the home?  The bank’s attorney will not want to get involved with this on your behalf because, again, his or her alliance is to his or her primary client, the bank, and the significantly reduced fee offered to you at the outset, does not cover extended negotiation of disputes with the seller.  Lastly, what if midstream, the seller has decided that he no longer wants to sell you the property, despite being under contractual obligation to do so?  Will the bank’s lawyer protect you in this situation?  It is very unlikely.  He or she will probably cancel the closing and move on to the next bank transaction and leave you hanging without effective representation to deal with this.

Of course, having effective, competent, legal representation is more expensive than “piggy backing” on the bank’s lawyer, however, the added cost (on what is arguably the most expensive purchase you will ever make in your lifetime) is well worth it–especially, if something unfortunately goes wrong.  And when it does, you can comfortably and confidently say, talk to my lawyer—she’s dealing with it.

At Baker, Braverman & Barbadoro, P.C. we have experienced real estate attorneys that can assist you from offer to closing, and in the event that you used a bank attorney and find yourself with an issue, our litigation attorneys are prepared to step in to protect your interests. –Gary M. Hogan.

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