Often people first call our office out of concern over payment for large medical expenses as a result of an automobile collision that was not their fault. The law in North Carolina after the passage of HB542 and SB 586 has changed and only a portion of any bill, that amount that is neccessary to satisfy a medical bill, is admissible to prove evidence of medical expenses. Rule 414 Evidence of medical expenses. Evidence offered to prove past medical expenses shall be limited to evidence of the amounts actually paid to satisfy the bills that have been satisfied, regardless of the source of payment, and evidence of the amounts actually necessary to satisfy the bills that have been incurred but not yet satisfied. In the real world, many clients debate whether or not to use their health insurance to pay their medical bills after an injury. They don’t want to use the insurance because it was not their fault, they are afraid of higher premiums and don’t want to have the hassle of filing the insurance. Often, many hospitals take that decision away from the patient by refusing to bill the health insurance regardless of whether the patient would like it billed or whether the patient has already paid for health insurance that should pay the bill. Many insurance companies, such as Medicare, are secondary payors. That means they pay only if no one else pays. However, even Medicare states that when a bill is left over 120 days it shall become primary and pay. In these situations, insurance such as Medicare of the State Health Plan is entitled to obtain reimbursement for all the bills paid by them by the third party at the end of the case. Regardless of the reimbursement provisions (called subrogation) many hosptials take the decision away from the injured party and refuse to bill the person’s health insurance hoping for a greater recovery from the at fault party in the collision. However, the hospital doesn’t take the risk of the patient recovering the amount from the at fault person’s insurance, instead they often make claims against and sue the patient for the unpaid bill, even though they could have accepted the insurance. The Charlotte Observer has recently written a series of articles on these not-for-profit hospitals suing uninsured persons for their unpaid medical expenses. Articles. Another article by the Charlotte Observer even references a veteran with tri-care insurance whom they sued because they could not properly bill the insurance. Article 2. In another article Duke University failed to properly code an insurance bill and hired a collection agency to hound and call repediatly a couple who had proper insurance. Article 3. Forbes Magazine has chosen to call this the Tort-Reform for Hospitals. In their article they describe that not-for-profit hospitals are obtaining significant benefit from directly suing their patients rather than working with the insurance companies or using low paying health insurance such as Medicaid. Our clients, and many other persons injured through no fault of their own should worry. Just because you have been financially stable and smart, it will not prevent
Focused On Serving Your Needs

"UPDATE: To protect your safety during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, we offer video conferencing, as well as telephone conferences, in place of face-to-face meetings. Please contact our office today to set up a remote consultation."
Recent Blog Posts
PI: Injured and now my Hospital wants to sue me rather than take my health insurance.
Categories
- Actos (3)
- Auto Accident Law (40)
- Blog (37)
- Business Or Tourist Affected By Power Outage (1)
- Car Accidents (105)
- Car Crash? What To Do Next (1)
- Choosing Your North Carolina Injury Or Disability Attorney (1)
- Civil Trial (64)
- Damages (1)
- David Bridgman Joins O'Malley Tunstall (1)
- DraftKings Or FanDuel Fantasy Sports (1)
- Drug Maker Failed To Warn Cancer Patients Of Permanent Hair Loss (1)
- E-cigarette Exploding Causing Burns (1)
- Federal Social Security Disability Cases (1)
- Firm News (6)
- Haeco Leaked Confidential Employee Information (1)
- Halloween Safety For Your Children (1)
- Halloween Safety For Your Children (1)
- Infection Following Hip Or Knee Replacement Surgery (1)
- Injured By A Drunk Driver (3)
- Insurance Company (1)
- Joe Tunstall And Susan O’Malley Selected 2019 NC Super Lawyers (1)
- Legally Speaking (119)
- Long-term Disability (5)
- Low Testosterone (1)
- Motor Vehicle Accidents (16)
- Move Over! Bill Requires Slow Drivers To Move Over From Left Lane (1)
- Nash County Beta Club Going To National Convention (1)
- NC Lawyers Reviewing Byetta, Januvia, Victoza (1)
- NC Lawyers Reviewing Byetta, Januvia, Victoza (1)
- NC Medical Malpractice Verdict Tunstall (1)
- NONE (1)
- North Carolina Farmers With Syngenta Corn Claims (1)
- North Carolina Injury Attorney (1)
- O'Malley Tunstall Referrals: The Best Advertising (1)
- Pedestrian Accident (1)
- Personal Injuries (4)
- Personal Injury (3)
- Personal Injury Law (65)
- Premises Liability (20)
- Products Liability (42)
- Protect Yourself, Keep Vehicle Under Control During MVA (1)
- Second Wreck – Use The Same Attorney? (1)
- Serious Heart Or Kidney Problems On Invokana Or Canagliflozin (1)
- Serious Injury? Need NC Social Security, Workers' Compensation And Auto Accident Lawyer? (1)
- Settlement Child Hurt Bounce House Inflatable (1)
- Sexual Enhancement (1)
- Slip Trip Fall (1)
- Social Security (11)
- Social Security (8)
- Social Security Disability (22)
- Social Security Disability Backlog 2017 (1)
- Social Security Disability Benefits (1)
- Social Security Disability If You Cannot Use Both Hands (1)
- Social Security Disability Limited Time To Apply For Benefits (1)
- Social Security Law (55)
- Social Security Wait Times (2)
- SSDI (1)
- Susan O'Malley's Social Security Decision Ten Year Anniversary (1)
- Susan O'Malley's Social Security Decision Ten Year Anniversary (1)
- Trips Slips And Falls At Stores (1)
- Truck Accidents (2)
- Truck Accidents (63)
- Tunstall Named Super Lawyer 2015 Personal Injury (1)
- Tunstall Named Super Lawyer 2017 Personal Injury (1)
- Tunstall Selected To 2015 List Nation's Top One Percent (1)
- Tunstall Selected To The 2017 List As Nation's Top One Percent (1)
- Wags 4 Tags (1)
- Wear Helmet While Riding Horses (1)
- Winter Driving Safety (1)
- Workers' Compensation (63)
- Workers' Compensation Law (17)
- Xarelto (1)
Archives
- January 2021 (2)
- November 2020 (1)
- October 2020 (2)
- September 2020 (5)
- August 2020 (6)
- July 2020 (6)
- June 2020 (7)
- May 2020 (6)
- April 2020 (5)
- March 2020 (8)
- February 2020 (6)
- January 2020 (6)
- December 2019 (7)
- November 2019 (5)
- October 2019 (5)
- September 2019 (7)
- August 2019 (7)
- July 2019 (6)
- June 2019 (5)
- May 2019 (6)
- April 2019 (10)
- March 2019 (3)
- February 2019 (6)
- January 2019 (7)
- December 2018 (5)
- November 2018 (5)
- October 2018 (6)
- September 2018 (3)
- August 2018 (9)
- July 2018 (9)
- June 2018 (9)
- May 2018 (8)
- April 2018 (9)
- March 2018 (9)
- February 2018 (9)
- January 2018 (11)
- December 2017 (9)
- November 2017 (9)
- October 2017 (11)
- September 2017 (11)
- August 2017 (11)
- July 2017 (9)
- June 2017 (8)
- May 2017 (12)
- April 2017 (10)
- March 2017 (11)
- February 2017 (9)
- January 2017 (10)
- December 2016 (10)
- November 2016 (5)
- October 2016 (2)
- September 2016 (2)
- August 2016 (2)
- July 2016 (3)
- June 2016 (2)
- May 2016 (8)
- April 2016 (2)
- March 2016 (2)
- February 2016 (2)
- January 2016 (3)
- December 2015 (2)
- November 2015 (4)
- October 2015 (3)
- September 2015 (3)
- August 2015 (2)
- July 2015 (4)
- June 2015 (3)
- May 2015 (2)
- April 2015 (3)
- March 2015 (4)
- February 2015 (4)
- January 2015 (8)
- December 2014 (3)
- November 2014 (2)
- October 2014 (4)
- September 2014 (4)
- August 2014 (3)
- July 2014 (3)
- June 2014 (4)
- May 2014 (3)
- April 2014 (6)
- March 2014 (6)
- February 2014 (4)
- January 2014 (4)
- December 2013 (4)
- November 2013 (5)
- October 2013 (4)
- September 2013 (2)
- August 2013 (4)
- July 2013 (5)
- June 2013 (3)
- May 2013 (5)
- April 2013 (2)
- March 2013 (4)
- February 2013 (3)
- January 2013 (2)
- December 2012 (7)
- November 2012 (3)
- October 2012 (5)
- September 2012 (2)
- August 2012 (1)
- July 2012 (2)
- June 2012 (3)
- April 2012 (5)
- March 2012 (4)
- February 2012 (6)
- January 2012 (8)
- December 2011 (4)
- November 2011 (3)
- October 2011 (2)
- September 2011 (8)
- August 2011 (9)
- July 2011 (2)
- June 2011 (1)
- May 2011 (8)
- April 2011 (4)


