If insurance paid my medical bills, does the insurance company have a lien on my personal injury settlement
There is no short answer to this question. Injured people seek immediate medical treatment. There is no time to wait for a personal injury case settlement which could take years. Insurers pay medical providers for their services. So in almost all accident cases, there is some insurance entity paying the bills for medical treatment.
Generally, for car accident cases, there would be no lien (but there are certain cases where you do have to pay back medical bills paid by insurance).
For many claims involving injuries on the job, the Worker’s Compensation Carrier who paid the bills would have to be repaid. The amount of that lien would be reduced by proportional amount of legal fee and disbursements. (This would mean the reduction of the lien would be at least one-third of the total lien. Worker’s Compensation sec. 29. (But depending on the type of accident, there is no lien.)
For those accidents covered by Medicare, there is a lien and Medicare would have to be repaid for medical bills covered. 42 U.S.C. 1395y. But, just like Worker’s Compensation Carriers, Medicare will reduce its lien based on the amount of legal fee and disbursements.
For many other cases, there is no lien. It is difficult to understand the lien reductions without specific facts. But the best answer to the original question would be that there could be a medical lien reduction or waiver, but it really depends on the specific facts of your case.
By James Santner, Esq.
If you have questions about a similar situation, feel free to contact us. Consultations are free and there is no fee unless we win.