In a post from our November 2022 newsletter, we discussed the role health insurance plays in personal injury cases.  Recently, a decent number of our cases had health insurance plans placing liens against our clients’ settlement proceeds so we wanted to revisit this topic.  As a reminder, it is generally best to use health insurance to cover bills as they are incurred to avoid getting sent to collections since a lump sum (rather than piecemeal) settlement in a personal injury case does not happen until a person is done treating, sometimes months or possibly even years later.

Most health insurance plans are not entitled to recoup money from your injury settlement for the claims they covered.  Many clients (understandably) say I paid for my health insurance (either through work or through private exchanges) and should get that benefit.  Unfortunately, there are some notable exceptions including Medicare, Medicaid and some self-funded plans.  Self-funded plans most commonly apply to governmental employees and anyone working for a union.  The basic idea is they do not want you to double dip by getting medical bills covered through the health insurance and then getting full value under the at-fault party.

For those with valid rights of reimbursement, what the plan paid must be repaid although many are willing to reduce their reimbursement number based on attorney’s fees and expenses incurred.  For those that do not have a valid right of reimbursement, we aggressively fight these purported rights of reimbursement by making them prove they are entitled to reimbursement, which often they cannot.  There is nothing more satisfying than initially getting a letter from a health insurance carrier stating they are entitled to reimbursement and then completely backing off after receiving a “nice” letter from us!

Super Bowl 2024

It is interesting how fast a team can go from the underdog everyone wants to win to the most hated team in the country.  Evidently, everyone wants a team to be good but not too good!  Sadly, most around the country will be rooting against the Chiefs with as much fervor as we rooted against the Patriots.  Nonetheless, all of us at Rana Law Group will be cheering on the Chiefs hoping for another BIG WIN!  At the very least, it is better than seeing the Rams in it again!  (Yes, Tarun is still bitter and no he does not regret selling his autographed Sam Bradford helmet).For those who do not care about the game, hopefully great snacks, fun commercials and Usher’s half-time show makes the evening more enjoyable.  We cannot wait to see Usher break out the roller skates!

From time to time, clients call and ask which type of cases we handle.  Our practice is built on referrals from satisfied clients.  We know that if we work hard and do a good job for our clients, they will tell their friends about us.  The best compliment from a former client is that client entrusting us with the potential case of their friend or family.  Our office specializes in the following cases:

1. Personal Injury (auto collisions, trucking, motorcycle, slip and fall)
2. Work Injuries
3. Traffic tickets and DUI/DWI

If you know someone that meets these criteria, please have them call our office.  If someone does not quite fit the above criteria, please still have the prospective referral give us a call as we can usually help the person find the right attorney via a referral.