A medical lien is a legal right to payment that your healthcare provider places on your assets. Typically, this means your hospital has a prior right to payment of your medical bills out of any settlement or judgment you receive. It might also mean a right to your insurance proceeds or even your personal assets. It is important that you understand how the system works.
Special Case: No-Fault Car Accidents
When it comes to auto accidents, Florida operates a no-fault system. This means that even if the accident was someone else’s fault, your own PIP insurance policy pays your medical expenses up to $10,000. Your healthcare provider doesn’t need to bother with a medical lien because they can seek payment directly from your PIP insurance company.
A major exception is if your injuries qualify as “serious” under Florida law. In that case, you can seek ordinary personal injury damages by filing a lawsuit.
Miami’s Medical Lien Ordinance
Miami-Dade has enacted a medical lien ordinance, Section 25C of the Code of Miami-Dade County, that applies locally. It allows public hospitals and certain healthcare providers to place a lien on a personal injury settlement or judgment to ensure the payment of a patient’s medical bills. The amount of the lien must be “reasonable” in light of the patient’s injuries. This restriction gives you a way to dispute the amount of the lien.
The ordinance only applies if you receive medical services and you later receive compensation from a third party. It is designed to help you gain access to medical care by making it easier for you to guarantee payment of your medical bills.
To perfect the lien (and thereby ensure its enforceability), a hospital must file the lien with Dade County and notify you and other relevant parties. Perfecting a lien ensures both enforceability and priority over certain other creditors. It is important to remember that such a lien does not attach to your home or other protected assets.
Types of Medical Liens
Florida state law recognizes the following four types of medical liens:
- Hospital liens,
- Doctors liens,
- Insurance liens, and
- Medicaid/Medicare liens.
In most cases, federal law mandates that Medicaid and Medicare liens take priority over other types of liens. Note how federal, state, and local laws intersect regarding medical liens.
Emergency Treatment Versus Non-Emergency Treatment
Under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), healthcare providers must provide you with emergency treatment even if you cannot afford to pay for it. That doesn’t mean your healthcare provider renders treatment free of charge. They will bill you later, and they might enforce their creditor’s rights quite aggressively.
The EMTALA, however, does not apply to non-emergency treatment. This means that if you’re not facing an emergency, your healthcare provider is within their legal rights to refuse to treat you unless you show them that you have the means to pay. A medical lien is one way that you can assure your healthcare provider that they will eventually receive payment.
Procedure for the Attachment and Release of a Lien
The first step in attaching a lien is for your healthcare provider to file it in the form of a legal document. This document functions as a bill that you must pay in full before you can receive any money from your personal injury judgment or settlement. Typically, however, attorney’s fees and case expenses take priority over a medical lien. You must deduct (at least) attorney’s fees, case expenses, and your medical lien out of your compensation, and you get to keep what’s left.
Negotiation and Payment
You may need to negotiate two amounts—the amount of your personal injury settlement and the amount of your lien. You will need to take each of these amounts into consideration when negotiating the other one. If the amount of your medical lien is too high, you might not have anything left after deducting your medical lien from your personal injury settlement. On the other hand, you could face the same situation if the settlement amount for your personal injury is too low.
Bargaining hard for both amounts has the potential to maximize the amount of money that goes into your pocket later on. When it comes to your personal injury settlement, the stronger your evidence, the stronger your claim. And the better your lawyer, the stronger your evidence is likely to be.
Medical Liens on Personal Assets
In addition to placing a lien on a future judgment or settlement, your healthcare provider might also seek a lien against your current property if you don’t pay your bill on time. This is less common, but it is far from rare. Your healthcare provider must take certain steps to attach a lien to your property:
- Use the standard collection process to try to collect your debt. The hospital will usually try to collect the unpaid medical bills through standard collection practices (e.g., sending bills or using collection agencies).
- File a lawsuit. If collection efforts fail, the healthcare provider can file a lawsuit against you to obtain a judgment. If they win, they can have the court garnish your wages or seize your assets, including the contents of your bank account.
A healthcare provider cannot seize your assets (except a personal injury settlement or judgment) without winning a lawsuit against you. Additionally, they generally cannot seize your family home even if they do win a lawsuit because of special legal protections. The homestead exemption (conditionally protects $160,000 in equity for an individual or $320,000 for a married couple.
Protecting Your Interests
Take the following steps to protect yourself:
- Make sure all the charges on your medical bills are appropriate. Don’t be afraid to confront your healthcare provider about any overcharging.
- Wait until your doctor says you have reached Maximum Medical Improvement before you try to negotiate your medical lien or your personal injury claim. There are certain exceptions to this rule, but there aren’t many of them.
- Settle your medical lien first, and only then settle your personal injury claim. That way, you’ll know how much to demand from the at-fault party to make sure that you’ll have plenty of money left once you pay your medical bills.
Consult with your lawyer if you have any questions.
A Miami Personal Injury Lawyer Can Protect Your Interests
Do yourself a favor and hire a Miami personal injury lawyer right from the very beginning. Choose someone who has handled Miami medical liens before and who knows how to negotiate them. You will need this precaution to prevent your healthcare provider from “taking you to the cleaners.” Contact Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers today to schedule a free consultation with a Miami personal injury attorney at (305) 937-0191.