A new term you may happen upon throughout a personal injury case in Arizona is a medical lien. This type of lien is a claim that another party has a claim to a portion of your settlement or jury determination. It specifically details a claim a medical provider, hospital or health insurance agency has for paying for your medical care. If you discover someone has placed this type of lien toward your settlement, gain insight into what to expect from the resulting legal process.
What Is a Medical Lien?
A medical lien is typical in personal injury law. This kind of lien is specifically designed to recoup the expenses spent on a patient’s medical care following an accident or emergency. The most general parties that file medical liens are healthcare providers, hospitals and health insurance companies. These are the institutions that usually end up paying for a victim’s injuries immediately following an accident, regardless of whether they are responsible for doing so, or not.
How Do Medical Liens Work?
The objective of a medical lien is to pay back the filing party – the lienholder – for what it spent for your medical care when it was not responsible for the accident. Should a provider believe it should not be held liable for paying medical costs because of a 3rd party’s liability, it is going to send you notice of its intention to file this type of lien. A healthcare provider or hospital is required to file a lien within one hundred and eighty days of your release from its care.
After the lien has been filed, the lienholder is going to start a process referred to as insurance subrogation. This refers to one party standing in the role of another throughout an injury claim. Cases involving a medical lien, an insurance company could use subrogation for the at-fault party in search of reimbursement for medical bills paid. Essentially, it stands in the place of the injured victim throughout a claim for medical expenses.
In other cases, the hospital or healthcare provider may place a medical lien directly towards the patient. If this happens to you, you are going to be personally obligated to pay back what is owed. You can do this out-of-pocket with an installment plan if you are liable for the accident or injury, or by giving a portion of your settlement to the healthcare provider following a winning of a personal injury claim towards another party.
How Can a Medical Lien impact Your Personal Injury Case?
A medical lien placed against your settlement or judgment award proved the party that filed the lien the right to deduct what you owe from any award won throughout a personal injury claim in Arizona. If you are granted compensation from the defendant, a portion of it is going to automatically go to the lienholder to fulfill the lien. It might be possible, nevertheless, to bargain with the lienholder for less than the total value of what you owe.
A personal injury lawyer in Phoenix can help you go over the conditions of a medical lien with an insurance company or healthcare provider. If the lienholder requires renumeration from you, your lawyer can help you in understanding your rights and alternatives based on the terminology of the insurance policy or Arizona’s laws.
Even though a medical lien is a complicated issue that could affect your injury settlement, it can be easier to understand and navigate with assistance from a lawyer. They can help you safeguard your rights and obtain the money you require to finally move on, in the face of a these types of liens.
Dar Liens Offers Lien Processing and Filing in Arizona
Dar Liens Offers Processing and Filing of the following types of Liens: Pre-Liens, Notices to Owner, Medical Liens, Construction Liens, Mechanics Liens, HOA Liens, 20 Day Preliminary Lien Notices, and more.
