This is an issue that I've run into time and time again. I'm mostly venting, but if this helps anyone, then that's even better:
If you are involved in a car accident and have health insurance, do not, unless medically necessary, go to any Infirmary Health Hospitals. These include Mobile Infirmary Medical Center, Thomas Memorial Hospital and North Baldwin Infirmary. University of South Alabama Medical Center does something similar, so add them to the "do not treat with" list.
First, for non-life threatening injuries that occur during regular business hours, urgent care clinics are cheaper, easier, quicker and more than capable of addressing any issues you have. But, more to the point, Infirmary Health Systems have begun filing Hospital Liens in Probate Court whenever a patient arrives for ER treatment for a car accident. What does this mean? It means they will not bill your health insurance (be it Blue Cross, United Health Care, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.). This is NOT a good thing. This means you remain responsible for the full bill. And it means you're probably responsible for a significantly larger bill than you otherwise would be. Why? Because each health insurance provider has negotiate contractual reductions for medical treatment. e.g. Infirmary will bill around $1500 for a CT, but the contractually allowed amount through Blue Cross will be maybe 20% of that. One of the reasons that you pay premiums for health insurance is to receive the benefit of those contractual agreements. Infirmary Health is not honoring those contractual reductions.
They argue that the primary payer in a car accident is either the at-fault party (so the insurance carrier of the person who caused the accident) or your own Medical Payments coverage on your auto insurance policy. While this is technically correct, it does not absolve them of their contractual obligations. Each health insurance carrier has a subrogation department. If there are payments made by the health insurance carrier, and later it is determined there was another responsible party, the subrogation department recovers that money from whatever source they need to. Infirmary has attempted to argue that they are simply protecting health insurance providers, but such protection is not necessary. The real purpose of what they're doing is trying to get paid more (more than they are contractually allowed to get paid) for each patient treated for a car accident. And not only will they file a lien for that initial ER treatment, by statute if you return days, weeks or even months later for follow-up or diagnostic tests (such as CTs or MRIs) they will refuse to file with insurance and will also file further Hospital Liens.
The purpose of the Hospital Lien statute is to protect hospitals when there are UNINSURED individuals injured in a car accident. It allows them to get paid when there are no other forms of payment. Infirmary Health is systematically abusing this statute to try to financially benefit. And who takes the hit? The patients. I have clients who are forced to pay thousands of dollars more for medical treatment, who get collection calls and liens filed against them in probate. And these people have health insurance. Health insurance that would absolutely pay, if they were properly billed. But instead of getting paid $750 for an ER visit with a basic work-up, Infirmary wants to bill more and get paid more.
What happens if you're taken by ambulance to an Infirmary Hospital, or you have no choice? First, make sure you provide your health insurance information immediately. Ask them to bill it to your health insurance. Ask them multiple times. Get assurances from them. That likely won't help, but it is still good to do. If you still receive a letter stating there's a Hospital Lien, understand that Infirmary cannot just completely refuse to bill to your health insurance. They ARE required to bill before the timely filing deadline for claims (usually 365 days from the date of treatment, but check with your insurance carrier to make sure as it could be shorter). So you can do what I've advised some clients can do: wait them out. Don't allow them to be paid until they are required to bill the balance to your health insurance provider. And, in the meantime, call them (frequently if you like) to ask them to fix this issue.
If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm frustrated that I run into this problem daily, and it isn't fair or right, in my opinion. Hopefully Infirmary Health will do the right thing soon, and change how they are operating.
If you are involved in a car accident and have health insurance, do not, unless medically necessary, go to any Infirmary Health Hospitals. These include Mobile Infirmary Medical Center, Thomas Memorial Hospital and North Baldwin Infirmary. University of South Alabama Medical Center does something similar, so add them to the "do not treat with" list.
First, for non-life threatening injuries that occur during regular business hours, urgent care clinics are cheaper, easier, quicker and more than capable of addressing any issues you have. But, more to the point, Infirmary Health Systems have begun filing Hospital Liens in Probate Court whenever a patient arrives for ER treatment for a car accident. What does this mean? It means they will not bill your health insurance (be it Blue Cross, United Health Care, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.). This is NOT a good thing. This means you remain responsible for the full bill. And it means you're probably responsible for a significantly larger bill than you otherwise would be. Why? Because each health insurance provider has negotiate contractual reductions for medical treatment. e.g. Infirmary will bill around $1500 for a CT, but the contractually allowed amount through Blue Cross will be maybe 20% of that. One of the reasons that you pay premiums for health insurance is to receive the benefit of those contractual agreements. Infirmary Health is not honoring those contractual reductions.
They argue that the primary payer in a car accident is either the at-fault party (so the insurance carrier of the person who caused the accident) or your own Medical Payments coverage on your auto insurance policy. While this is technically correct, it does not absolve them of their contractual obligations. Each health insurance carrier has a subrogation department. If there are payments made by the health insurance carrier, and later it is determined there was another responsible party, the subrogation department recovers that money from whatever source they need to. Infirmary has attempted to argue that they are simply protecting health insurance providers, but such protection is not necessary. The real purpose of what they're doing is trying to get paid more (more than they are contractually allowed to get paid) for each patient treated for a car accident. And not only will they file a lien for that initial ER treatment, by statute if you return days, weeks or even months later for follow-up or diagnostic tests (such as CTs or MRIs) they will refuse to file with insurance and will also file further Hospital Liens.
The purpose of the Hospital Lien statute is to protect hospitals when there are UNINSURED individuals injured in a car accident. It allows them to get paid when there are no other forms of payment. Infirmary Health is systematically abusing this statute to try to financially benefit. And who takes the hit? The patients. I have clients who are forced to pay thousands of dollars more for medical treatment, who get collection calls and liens filed against them in probate. And these people have health insurance. Health insurance that would absolutely pay, if they were properly billed. But instead of getting paid $750 for an ER visit with a basic work-up, Infirmary wants to bill more and get paid more.
What happens if you're taken by ambulance to an Infirmary Hospital, or you have no choice? First, make sure you provide your health insurance information immediately. Ask them to bill it to your health insurance. Ask them multiple times. Get assurances from them. That likely won't help, but it is still good to do. If you still receive a letter stating there's a Hospital Lien, understand that Infirmary cannot just completely refuse to bill to your health insurance. They ARE required to bill before the timely filing deadline for claims (usually 365 days from the date of treatment, but check with your insurance carrier to make sure as it could be shorter). So you can do what I've advised some clients can do: wait them out. Don't allow them to be paid until they are required to bill the balance to your health insurance provider. And, in the meantime, call them (frequently if you like) to ask them to fix this issue.
If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm frustrated that I run into this problem daily, and it isn't fair or right, in my opinion. Hopefully Infirmary Health will do the right thing soon, and change how they are operating.
