Why does my health insurance get part of my car accident settlement?

Some injury victims are surprised to find out that they have to pay some of their settlement or trial verdict funds to their own health insurance company. This is called healthcare subrogation. 

Healthcare subrogation is a provision that is contained in just about every private or employer health insurance plan.  Medicare has its own version called the Medicare Secondary Payer act that accomplishes the same. This provision basically states that if the plan pays for your treatment for injuries you received due to someone else's fault, and you make a financial recovery for such injuries, you have to pay the plan back what they paid for the treatment. There are many nuances to healthcare subrogation depending on whether it is a private health plan or an ERISA sponsored plan. However, the basic principles of reimbursement remain the same. If you fail to reimburse the plan in this situation, the plan may have the right to cease paying for your treatment.

A well versed personal injury attorney should know how to protect his or her clients in this situation and also be able to negotiate down what the client ultimately has to repay their health plan. Personal injury attorneys are usually compensated based on a percentage of the gross settlement or recovery made for the client. Therefore, a car accident attorney's ability and efforts in negotiating down healthcare subrogation claims does not affect the total fee an attorney is paid.  However, it is very important to the client because the less the client has to repay a health plan, the more money the client takes home.  

At Newsom Law, attorney Patrick Newsom takes this part of his personal injury practice very seriously for two simple reasons: 
1) Every dollar the client does not have to repay a health plan is a dollar that goes into the client's pocket;
2) It's the right thing to do in effectively representing the client;

Clients always come first at Newsom Law. If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of another's negligence, feel free to contact us for a no obligation free consultation.