What is this curious case of attorney lien claims?
If you are familiar with the term “ambulance chasers” outside the context of a John Grisham novel, then it is quite possible you may be in the medical billing field and would have also heard about attorney lien claims. What is this curious case of attorney lien claims you might ask?? A lien is an agreement between the patient and the patient’s lawyer giving him/her the rights over a certain percentage of the settlement the attorney secures on behalf of the patient.
An accident
Now, most lien cases are encountered in personal injury incidents wherein the lawyer seeks to secure financial remedy from the perpetrator of the incident on behalf of his client. In turn the client promises to give him a certain percentage of the amount secured. But there are cases wherein a patient, who meets with an accident, is denied basic medical coverage by his payer for a plethora of reasons (out-of-network provider being one). Now your clinic may treat such a patient out of good faith, agreeing to wait for the proceeds secured legally by the attorney.
An answer
But the question begs to be asked here is; is it right for the attorney to lay a claim on the rightful reimbursement that you should have got without hassles in the first place?? Are you within your rights if you refuse to refund a part of this reimbursement to the attorney, as promised to by the patient? The answer should clearly be a “yes” (unless the whole territory is alien to you).
Whatever agreement entered upon by the patient and the attorney, it is something that has to be mutually resolved between them, and the attorney has no rights whatsoever to lay a claim on a part of the reimbursement; since this is not a case of unlawful balance billing by your clinic due to the patient benefitting from the payments of the tortfeasor or the motorist coverage; but a payment made towards actual treatment rendered.
Guide
As a responsible medical billing company BillingParadise upholds the policy of reversing any charges made towards unsuccessful claims submission to the patient’s payer in the case of attorney lien cases, and also guides the clinic in negotiating the labyrinth of personal injury claims.
