HEALTH INSURANCE FORM AFTER ACCIDENT INJURY
After being injured in an accident, you may get a form from your health insurance company asking how the accident happened. They want to know whether the person who caused the accident has liability insurance and if you are bringing a claim. Our personal injury lawyers are often asked about this form.
When you are injured by another person, that person (or actually their liability insurance) is legally responsible for paying your medical bills. However, if you have medical insurance, your health insurance company will usually pay the medical bills first. In that situation, your health insurance is entitled to get its money back out of your settlement. That is called subrogation. It is written into your health insurance contract and applies to accidents that are caused by another person.
HEALTH INSURANCE REPAYMENT WHEN INJURED IN ACCIDENT
When your health insurance makes a payment, it is subrogated against any third party who caused the injury. However, your medical insurance company cannot directly sue the person who caused the injury. In Minnesota, the insurance company must work through their insured person (you) and your accident lawyer.
That is why your health insurer will send you the form to fill out regarding the accident. They want to find out if there is another party who injured you. In addition, they want to know if you have hired an attorney to pursue injury compensation for the accident. If you have or may hire a lawyer to pursue compensation for the accident, your health insurance company wants to make sure they get paid back for the medical bills out of any injury settlement you receive.
Our accident injury lawyers deal with health insurance companies for MN accidents every day about this issue. There are a lot of paperwork and forms after an accident injury. We keep track of the correct amount that you will have to repay the health insurance company out of your settlement. Our lawyers also can usually negotiate a reduction in the subrogation amount. This allows our client to keep more of the settlement. In many cases, the party that injured you does not have enough insurance to fully and fairly compensate you. Therefore, negotiation with the health insurer is important. Call us for a free consultation to discuss this further with a lawyer.