What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Nebraska
My father was hit head on in an auto accident 2 years ago. The other car had 2 people in the vehicle. Everyone died, although Dad did hang on for 10 days in the ICU. He was 79 years old. My mother, 75, was in the final stages of pancreatic cancer when Dad died. Luckily she was not in the car, however, she passed away one year ago today.
Eventually, we received $100,000 from Dad's insurance company, and $100,000 from the other families insurance. This money, $200,000 , went in to a special account at their bank. We then waited to see what our final bills would be. Eventually, Medicare settled with the hospitals. I only know that the total hospital bill was around $450,000. I have no idea what they accepted from the insurance companies and Medicare. An insurance rep (subrogation specialist) told me that we just needed to wait and see what Medicare would charge us. Expect it to take months. They may NEVER come back with a claim....and in that case, the proceeds from the settlement would be available to us.
Someone in my family decided that their friend, a personal injury lawyer, should in fact represent us. He assured us he would be very fair. For over a year, he dinked around with this case. Whenever we asked for an update (because we rarely if ever for a voluntary update from him) he said, "It's just a waiting game, waiting for Medicare to come back with their claim." Medicare finally came back with a claim of $58,000. The attorney got them to lower the amount to $38,000, because we would have attorneys fees to cover. Then the attorney charged us $38,000. So we ended up paying MORE THAN WHAT MEDICARE originally billed us. RIDICULOUS. This attorney did nothing. He did not negotiate the medicare bill at all, he simply waited to see what they would bill.
WOULD WE HAVE EVEN NEEDED AN ATTORNEY, or could we have just waited to see what Medicare would charge us, and then hire an attorney if we thought the fee was exhorbitant? We (the family) feel like we've been taken. BTW, the attorney quickly lowered his fee to $20,000 when we questioned it. I don't think he even deserved that.
We asked for copies of correspondence that he sent on our behalf, and the response was, "This does not have to be provided unless the case goe before a judge."
THOUGHTS?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NE
My father was hit head on in an auto accident 2 years ago. The other car had 2 people in the vehicle. Everyone died, although Dad did hang on for 10 days in the ICU. He was 79 years old. My mother, 75, was in the final stages of pancreatic cancer when Dad died. Luckily she was not in the car, however, she passed away one year ago today.
Eventually, we received $100,000 from Dad's insurance company, and $100,000 from the other families insurance. This money, $200,000 , went in to a special account at their bank. We then waited to see what our final bills would be. Eventually, Medicare settled with the hospitals. I only know that the total hospital bill was around $450,000. I have no idea what they accepted from the insurance companies and Medicare. An insurance rep (subrogation specialist) told me that we just needed to wait and see what Medicare would charge us. Expect it to take months. They may NEVER come back with a claim....and in that case, the proceeds from the settlement would be available to us.
Someone in my family decided that their friend, a personal injury lawyer, should in fact represent us. He assured us he would be very fair. For over a year, he dinked around with this case. Whenever we asked for an update (because we rarely if ever for a voluntary update from him) he said, "It's just a waiting game, waiting for Medicare to come back with their claim." Medicare finally came back with a claim of $58,000. The attorney got them to lower the amount to $38,000, because we would have attorneys fees to cover. Then the attorney charged us $38,000. So we ended up paying MORE THAN WHAT MEDICARE originally billed us. RIDICULOUS. This attorney did nothing. He did not negotiate the medicare bill at all, he simply waited to see what they would bill.
WOULD WE HAVE EVEN NEEDED AN ATTORNEY, or could we have just waited to see what Medicare would charge us, and then hire an attorney if we thought the fee was exhorbitant? We (the family) feel like we've been taken. BTW, the attorney quickly lowered his fee to $20,000 when we questioned it. I don't think he even deserved that.
We asked for copies of correspondence that he sent on our behalf, and the response was, "This does not have to be provided unless the case goe before a judge."
THOUGHTS?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NE