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I was in an accident dec 30 2006 in which a drunk driver hit me and my bf head on at about 75 mph. we were at a stop sign so we carry no fault at all. the guy that hit us has had 2 brain surgerys and he is paralized and mentally retarted now due to the accident. he had no insurance. i shattered my ankle in the accident and my bf broke his leg in 3 places and his opisite foot in 2 places. my bfs leg is now fully healed and our insurance has paid a pretty penny in his medical bills. well i had to get a lawyer bc i was a minor and cant do anything on my own legally. i had surgery and with all of the hardware that had to be used to fix my ankle costed me about $30,000 my health insurance covered as little as they could bc it was a car accident and then i had 4 months of physical therapy that my insurance didnt cover at all bc "it wasnt necessary" even though it was. w\o physical therapy i would have never learned to walk again bc i had to have intensive pool therapy and then lots of one on one help. i was on crutches for about 6 months. well im having problems with it now. i hit my ankle at work yesterday and havnt been able to stand on it since im assuming im not going to be able have any surgeries on it bc i am pregnant even though i am certain i need one now. it appears that at least 3 of the 13 pins in my leg have shifted. any way my problem is if he has no insurance how do i get compensation for my medical bills that are now at 70,000 we only had auto insurance of 100,000 our company doesnt offer anymore. they are paying out full but my lawyer sucks and i cant fire him bc he has already filed suit and i have to payhim either way now. im on medicaid for the baby but i dont know how to swing another surgery on top of the 70,000 i already owe from the last one and PT. does anyone know anyway to get around the maximum payout on the insurance contract?
my lawyer gets 33 1/3% so he leaves me with $66,666.66 obviously not going to cover my current med bills
Yes, and normally people who drive uninsured cars don't have anything to get anyway, Well so far you have had the surgary and have not paid, so get it and worry about how to pay latter. also if there is no insurance money left, go though your medicad or private insurnace if you have it, and let them pay. The problem before was they would not pay when another insurnace was the primary, but after the other will not pay, they can be liable to pay. Your attorney may have to write them a letter or two
how can i reimburse them if i didnt get the money to cover it from the primary insurance? that is what is such a mess. too many hospital bills and i get new ones every week and its been a year!
how can i reimburse them if i didnt get the money to cover it from the primary insurance? that is what is such a mess. too many hospital bills and i get new ones every week and its been a year!
Ok, here is what should happen. YOU don't reimburse them at all. Prior to settling the case, your lawyer should talk to your health insurer and compromise the lien (settle it for a fraction of what it is worth). It is customary in the industry for private insurers to cut at least 1/3 of the bill in cases like this, but I have seen much more under some circumstances.
You see, what happens is that your lawyer calls yoru insurer and says:
" Browneyes stands to recover $60,000 if we settle this case. However, since she currently owes you $70,000, there is no incentive for her to settle for that amount. therefor, we need you to reduce the lien amount if we are to settle the case. If you do not reduce your lien, the case will go to trial where we risk (1) getting less then $100,000; or (2) losing outright, in which case your will receive nothing."
The insurance company will agree becasue some money is better then no money. Your lawyer shoudl really be expalining all of this stuff to you.
Ok, here is what should happen. YOU don't reimburse them at all. Prior to settling the case, your lawyer should talk to your health insurer and compromise the lien (settle it for a fraction of what it is worth). It is customary in the industry for private insurers to cut at least 1/3 of the bill in cases like this, but I have seen much more under some circumstances.
You see, what happens is that your lawyer calls yoru insurer and says:
" Browneyes stands to recover $60,000 if we settle this case. However, since she currently owes you $70,000, there is no incentive for her to settle for that amount. therefor, we need you to reduce the lien amount if we are to settle the case. If you do not reduce your lien, the case will go to trial where we risk (1) getting less then $100,000; or (2) losing outright, in which case your will receive nothing."
The insurance company will agree becasue some money is better then no money. Your lawyer shoudl really be expalining all of this stuff to you.
I could be wrong - and often am! - but I believe her original question was how to get around med pay, which she has already exceeded. I had the impression she didn't want to spend the negligence portion on medical bills.
I could be wrong - and often am! - but I believe her original question was how to get around med pay, which she has already exceeded. I had the impression she didn't want to spend the negligence portion on medical bills.
Ya, well it isn't exactly clear from the facts she sets out. The important thing is that anyone who pays out money (other then NoFault) for medical treatment as the reult of injuries in an accident has a subogation right to any proceeds recovered from the tortfeasor. Independant insurers are MUCh more flexible then Medicaid/Medicare. there are times the Medicaid will simply refuse to reduce a lien, however in NYS they usually have a sliding scale of what they will accept based on the settlement amount for cases like this.
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