What a Personal Injury Claimant Should Know About Subrogation
Most people are familiar with the basic elements of a personal injury lawsuit: The victim sues the at-fault party (or that party's insurance company) for damages, including medical bills, wage loss, and pain and suffering.
Most personal injury victims, however, are not aware of the behind-the-scenes legal processes, including subrogation claims. If you have been injured and are pursuing a personal injury claim, a subrogation claim against your recovery could significantly limit the amount of compensation you receive.
What Is Subrogation?
A subrogation claim is a claim for reimbursement by a health care or disability benefits plan in which that plan attempts to recover expenses for benefits it paid on behalf of a plan member.
Consider the following example: A man is injured in a car accident caused by a negligent driver. The injured man needs immediate medical treatment, which is paid for by Medicare. The injured man also suffers wage loss, for which he is reimbursed by his employer-provided disability plan.
If the man recovers compensation from the at-fault driver's insurance company for medical expenses and wage loss, both Medicare and the disability plan are going to want their money back.
Why Do You Need a Subrogation Attorney?
Not all claims made by benefit plans are valid. In the above example, for instance, let's imagine Medicare paid the injury victim $50,000 in benefits. Medicare makes a subrogation claim on the full $50,000, however, only $25,000 of the medical expenses were related to the car accident. Medicare is only entitled to reimbursement for benefits related to the car accident injuries.
This is why it is important to have an experienced subrogation attorney on your side if a benefit plan is making a claim against your personal injury recovery. Attorney Linda R. Magruder has extensive experience handling subrogation claims and knows how to determine the validity of subrogation claims. By challenging subrogation claims, she helps clients keep more of the compensation they need to recover from personal injuries.
Contact Us
Our law firm can handle all aspects of your personal injury claim, including all matters related to subrogation. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, we serve clients nationwide.
Contact us online or by telephone at502-690-6611 to speak with an experienced subrogation lawyer.
