Medicare Advantage Liens – Your Law Firm’s Responsibility
Humana is continuing to show the strong position it holds for reimbursement of its Medicare Advantage Plans. We posted on this topic 18 months ago when Humana sued the Paris Blank law firm for failing to reimburse it from a PI settlement.
On August 18, Humana filed two more suits to remind us that its rights are the same as those regular Medicare exercises. Both cases involved Motor Vehicle Accidents where the Humana Medicare Advantage Lien was not resolved or paid:
- Humana v. Pelham in the Northern District of Florida; and,
- Humana v. Falcon in the Middle District of Louisiana.
Details will be available soon – but these cases prove the same point we made 18 months ago when discussing Humana v. Paris Blank. Not only can you not ignore Medicare Advantage Plans, but, you must make an active effort to seek out those plans for their reimbursement rights.
How?
Step 1 – Find out about your clients’ health insurance coverage: Ask your clients for their health insurance cards. Ask them if they were covered by another plan previously too. If you want to take it a step farther you can look at medical records (admission documents always include guarantor and payer information) or even log into a Medicare beneficiary’s mymedicare.gov account to see other payers.
Step 2 – Contact those payers. Take the time to get answers. And make sure you get something in writing to protect yourself.
Step 3 – Double check those letters from potential lien holders. Do they close their file and release their rights? Or do they simply say, “at this time” with no protection for you? Be careful with their wording.
If you don’t have the time, don’t want to spend the time, or simply realize that you can get help on these lien scenarios you can utilize a lien resolution service. Services like our own lien resolution program will help you with Medicare Liens, Medicare Advantage Plans, and any other Health Insurance Liens. We also work to reduce your firm’s liability, protecting you from lawsuits like those that Humana continues to bring. Give us a call at (844) MED LIEN or (844) 633-5436.