Many personal injury victims are not aware initially that health insurers usually have the right to claim the victim’s settlement money for medical expenses paid by insurers. Isn’t health insurance supposed to relieve patients of having to pay the full cost of medical treatment? In exchange, insurance companies get monthly premiums for assuming the risk that the consumer will file claims that are larger than the premiums paid over the years. Unfortunately, most health insurance plans allow insurers to recover money from personal injury lawsuits via subrogation.
With subrogation, insurers are able to recover expenses incurred due to injuries caused by another party. The pricing for most health insurance policies assume the right of subrogation. If subrogation was not included, the premium for the health insurance policy would be higher. Since most people and companies who buy health insurance are looking for every method to decrease premiums, the right of subrogation is usually included in health insurance policies. Because of subrogation, personal injury attorneys in Baltimore are required to pay health insurers out of any settlement received.
There is a way for personal injury attorneys in Baltimore to reduce the amount of money paid via subrogation. It is unfair for health insurance companies to get the benefits from the plaintiff’s lawyer without paying for it. If insurers received the full amount of medical expenses paid, they are not paying for the work performed by the plaintiff’s lawyer. Furthermore, settlements are usually for far less than what the case is worth. That is why it is usually possible for the personal injury lawyer to negotiate a lesser amount with health insurers.
Because of the right to subrogation, personal injury lawyers need to make sure that clients are sending all medical bills so that they are included in the lawsuit. If the victim forgets to include some medical bills, the victim’s share of the settlement will be reduced by the medical bills that weren’t included in the original lawsuit. That is why it is very important for personal injury lawyers to have all expenses incurred that are related to the accident including amounts paid by insurance companies.
