Attorneys Advise Milwaukee Clients About Health Care Insurers’ Right to Reimbursement
On behalf of Milwaukee personal injury attorney Merrick Domnitz of Domnitz & Domnitz, S.C. posted in Car Accidents on Friday, January 8, 2010.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an automobile accident, or another type of personal injury accident, and your medical bills have been paid by a health insurance company, that insurer may have a right to be reimbursed when you collect money from an at-fault party. The same may be true of payments made under the medical payments provision of your own automobile policy.
What is important for you to know is that those rights of reimbursement (commonly called subrogation rights) vary from situation to situation depending on the specific language of your policy, whether it is a group or individual policy, and the extent to which you are being compensated for your injuries. Often times thousands of dollars are at issue and only a law firm experienced in the reading and correct interpretation of the specific language in your policy can help protect your rights in this regard.
At Domnitz & Skemp, we have years of experience in helping people obtain fair treatment not only from the liability insurers of the at fault party, but also from their own health insurers.
Although the common law of Wisconsin is favorable to injured persons regarding their obligation to reimburse subrogated insurers by requiring that the injured person be made whole (i.e., be fully compensated for their injuries and related damages) before the insurer is reimbursed, there is a federal law that governs policies that come under the ERISA law. ERISA policies most often are those which provide coverage through an employee benefit program. The rights of an insurer who pays medical expenses pursuant to a policy governed by the ERISA law are much stronger and negotiating reductions in reimbursements are much more difficult.
Attorneys advise Milwaukee clients on many topics that impact them. Since car accidents and other personal injury accidents often create financial hardships for the victims in many cases, it is extremely important that these matters of reimbursement rights be handled carefully and correctly in order to avoid further financial and emotional stress to the injured party.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an automobile accident or another type of personal injury accident, contact a Milwaukee personal injury attorney with Domnitz & Skemp by phone (414-395-5832) or by going to our website (www.Domnitzlaw.com) and emailing us so that we can fully protect your rights.