Medicare And Medical Reimbursement Rights From Insurance Claims
Medicare and Medical reimbursement in personal injury claims matters is
a subject that is unknown to most accident victims making injury claims
against insurance companies. Medicare has a right to recover the money
it pays medical providers that have billed Medicare for treatment provided
to personal injury accident victims in situations where the accident victims
obtain a settlement or verdict against a third party defendant who caused
the injury by means of an
automobile accident,
pedestrian accident,
truck accident, medical
malpractice,
or other acts that were performed in a negligent manner causing injuries.
Medical has the same right to reimbursement under California law that
Medicare has under Federal law. The positive news is that the amount of
reimbursement is not 100% of the money paid out by Medicare or Medical.
They reduce their lien rights by a formula or percentage based on the
amount of legal fees and litigation costs incurred by the accident victim
in obtaining the out of court settlement or jury trial verdict. The Medicare
reduction averages 25%-30%, and Medical approximately 25%. Unfortunately
both Medicare and Medical can sometimes take months to send their final
lien amount causing long delays in the final payout of the settlement
proceeds. As the Palm Springs Personal Injury Lawyer who deals with these
government agencies on a daily basis I have firsthand knowledge as to
how frustrating it is to try and get them to be more efficient in processing
these liability claims cases. I settled an assault and battery case in
October of 2011 and sent Medicare all the documents regarding the settlement
of the insurance claim. I sent the material by certified mail. I had proof
the envelope was delivered. I called Medicare yesterday to find out why
we have not heard from Medicare since they are supposed to send the final
lien letter within 65 days of their receipt of the settlement. I was told
that they never received the correspondence and that we would have to
start the process over even though I had proof of mailing and their receipt.
I have had the same thing happen on numerous occasions in the last 15
months. The problem for my clients is that the defendant's insurance
company won't send out the settlement check until I can produce the
final Medicare lien letter. I once had to have an automobile accident
victim client call Mary Bono's office to get help since Medicare had
delayed issuing a final lien letter for 5 months. The help of the Congressional
office helped. Contact Barry Regar APLC for all personal injury and insurance
claims occurring in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio, or anywhere in the
Coachella Valley
Posted By
Barry Regar APLC
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