Personal
injury victims are often shocked to learn that a portion of their
personal injury recovery may have to be paid to their health
insurance company as reimbursement for accident related medical
charges that were paid by the health insurance company. The right of
a health insurance company to recover payments made for
accident-related health expenses is called the right of
“subrogation.”
Until
recently, the Texas “made whole” doctrine protected injury
victims by providing that they should get paid first and be “made
whole” before having to reimburse their health insurance companies.
After all, why should a health insurance company get their payments
back? They were paid a premium to provide the medical coverage.
Unfortunately,
as a result of intense political pressure from health insurance
companies, recent Texas court decisions have seriously undermined the
long-standing “made whole” doctrine. Under current case law,
health insurance companies now argue that they are entitled to be
reimbursed from the first money recovered, and that they no longer
have to wait until the victim has first been “made whole.”
This
can lead to horribly inequitable results. Take for example the
situation of the accident victim with $25,000 in medical bills as a
result of auto accident that was caused by a drunk driver with only
$25,000 in liability insurance. The victim’s health insurance
company, which has been charging exorbitant health insurance
premiums, will claim that it is entitled to the entire liability
policy proceeds, leaving the accident victim with nothing for her
injuries.
For
this reason, it is extremely important for injury victims to have a
personal injury attorney who is very knowledgeable in the area of
personal injury subrogation law. I recommend a board certified
personal injury trial attorney because they have special skill and
competence in personal injury trial law including the area of
personal injury subrogation law. Despite recent court decisions, a
board certified personal injury attorney often can greatly reduce or
even eliminate a health insurance company’s subrogation claim. And
that means more money in the injury victim’s pocket, where it
belongs.
So
how does one go about finding a board certified personal injury trial
attorney? One way is to visit
http://www.tbls.org/Directory/Attorney.aspx.
The website will give you a list of the attorneys in your area who
are board-certified. You are also welcome to call the Neese Law
Firm at 713.355.1200 or 888.99.NEESE, and if we cannot help you with
your particular legal issue, we will do our best to point you in the
right direction and get you to a personal injury attorney who can
help you.