What exactly is a doctor lien?
A Doctor Lien is a agreeement between the injured person and a doctor or healthcare provider. When you have an injury from an accident then you can sign an agreement with the doctor for services. The doctor will provide the heathcare services and agrees to receive payment from the award or settlement. The services such as medical, surgeries, physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, massage therapy, and pain management services rendered without immediate payment.
How does a doctor lien effect my settlement?
The doctor receives compensation when the injured person settles the case with the accused or the court orders a compensation amount. If the court ordered for the compensation amount then the attorney of the injured person will directly pay the medical practitioner before any awarded money remitted to the client or the attorney.
The doctor or healthcare provider lien has important advantages in certain situations. For example when you dont have medical insurance or maybe you have insurance that does not cover certian threapies. The lien is a easy way for you to get treatment. It is often imporatent that the doctor provides the medical services on immediate basis for the best outcome. An severely injured person will most likely require the services right away to avoid long term residuals. A doctor’s lien is very effective for a desperate patient/injured person to receive their services needed.
How much do the doctors get from my lawsuit?
The injured person can share up to fifty percent of the net amount to the doctor. If the compensation amount is not enough to meet the expenditures of the doctor then it will create legal issues. Therefore, if a case settles for an amount where the 50% amount will not cover the full extent of the provider’s bill, then the provider cannot receive payment for their full bill. When this occurs, treating health care practitioners receive a pro rata share of the 50% proceeds allocated towards provider bills, and must accept this to satisfy their charges.
How does a doctor lien affect my lawsuit?
Now comes to another side of the doctor lien that how it can affect the lawsuit of the injured person. If you had an accident and signed a doctor lien agreement, now going to file the claim in the court then you have to consider the following important facts or things that can affect your lawsuit;
The defense council can object on the medical bills and argue on the biases of the doctor. They may use a reason that the doctor has personal interest as the doctor will receive a specific amount from the compensation so it may form a biased opinion. The defense council will argue that the medical bills are not according to the fee schedule. In a no-fault insurance car accident cases the providers follow a fee schedule for reimbursement of medical services. However the insurance policy has a policy limit that differs from state to state. Once the insurance company reaches their policy limit the fee schedule is no longer used to determine the amount payable.
When a doctor testifies on a case while having a lien agreement pending, the defense can argue they have a financial interest in the outcome of the lawsuit. So in conclusion it may affect your lawsuit before the court.
Conclusion
It is good to use the doctor lien when it is appropriate for certain situations. If there is insurance coverage in effect, you may want to consider using the insurance to reduce the lien balance. Liens can be referred to as letters of protection and are generally accepted by attorneys and executed in many states.
* The information provided for you on the injuryattorney.net does not constitute any attorney-client relationship. The information on this website is not based on any specific case. It is intended to serve as an example of what you may expect when perusing a lawsuit with a personal injury attorney.