Texas has a statute (law) enacted by the legislature years ago, to help protect the hospital in collecting funds for injured people who are admitted to the hospital from an accident caused by another. Simply. If a person causes an accident and hurts you and your are admitted to a hospital within 72 hours of the accident the hospital can claim rights to an insurance policy of the person who caused the accident. The rules in the law are simple:
- A person was injured by another person or party
- The person who injured you had insurance
- You were admitted to a hospital within 72 hours of the incident.
Please note the law says you have to be ADMITTED to the hospital.
Now what is admitted? Admitted, from numerous areas like Medicare, is being put into a room in the hospital by a medical doctor. It is NOT going to an emergency room and being released. Attendance at an emergency room for several hours is not being admitted. No doctor ADMITS you to an emergency room, you just walk in on your own.
Not only have these liens been abused by the hospitals locking down settlements from insurance companies but we have seen other medical type providers who are not even hospitals file these liens. One particular egregious company is a helicopter company who have bills in the thousands of dollars for flying you a few miles. I am a flight instructor and long time commercial pilot (48 years) and I know flying aircraft cost a lot of money but these people are not hospitals. The problem is the insurance companies are taking your money and paying these helicopter companies for liens that are altered and are not even following Texas law.
We have been successful in suing these companies. What is strange is that they operate out of Arizona and alter the lien documents to make it look like they have a good lien.
If you have a hospital lien filed against you and they take money from a settlement please contact our office. There is no charge for the call.