Main Synergy InSights Blog Category
Increasingly trial attorneys are discovering that settlement of a personal injury or wrongful death claim with the tortfeasor can be the beginning not the end of negotiations or even litigation. Once settlement funds are received, the often-protracted lien resolution process begins, especially hospital liens. Hospitals typically demand reimbursement of their full, undiscounted list prices for […]
Synergy’s lien resolution group has seen many cases like this one, where attorneys settle a case based on the assumption that they know the final Medicare lien amount.
Since the landmark decision by the US Supreme Court in Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services v. Ahlborn in 2006, state Medicaid agencies have grappled with how to recover monies spent for injury related care through their third party liability statutes without violating the Ahlborn decision. Many states continued to apply third party recover […]
One of the most difficult issues trial counsel must resolve involves addressing hospitals/providers liens for Medicare clients. Recently the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), via the Medicare Learning Network (MLN), released policy memo SE17018 which provides excellent and concise answers to most of these issues. This memo addresses when a hospital/provider should bill, […]
On April 18, 2017 in Coventry Health Care Of Mo., Inc. V. Nevils the United States Supreme Court held that the subrogation/reimbursement plan language contained in the health insurance contracts of Federal Employee Health Benefit plans (FEHBA) preempted state law. This decision by the Supreme Court puts to rest over a decade of uncertainty in […]
After nearly five years, on October 6, 2016, the Florida Supreme Court issued Opinion SC16-104 and declined to make any change to the existing Rules Regulating the Florida Bar in relation to lien resolution outsourcing. As Florida’s trial attorneys know, the issue of whether there was a need for a change in the existing rules […]
Medicare has reduced the threshold for when a physical trauma-based liability settlement is large enough that the beneficiary needs to report it and repay conditional payments. On November 15, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued an alert which decreased the current reporting threshold from $1,000 to $750. The threshold decrease is […]
On Monday, August 8th, the 11th Circuit affirmed the decision of the Southern District of Florida to award a Humana Medicare Advantage plan double damages when they were not repaid at the conclusion of a personal injury action. In Humana Medical Plan, Inc. v. Western Heritage Ins. Co., No. 15-11436 (11th Cir. Aug. 8, 2016) […]
This case has gained national attention amongst the trial bar for its far reaching implications. Synergy is on the forefront of protecting plaintiffs and the plaintiff’s bar which is why we feel so strongly about how the court in this case simply got it all wrong.