Law Office of Arkady Itkin 

There comes a time in your injury case when you finally reach a settlement agreement of your claims and you have to calculate how the settlement money will be allocated between you, the medical providers/ lien holders and your attorney. 

It's important that you keep in mind that if you are represented by an attorney, the claim of your health insurance company and the medical bills of other medical providers who hold a lien against your case are highly negotiable and in most cases they substantially reduce their charges with one or two calls from your injury lawyer. 

Under the so-called common fund doctrine, the medical provider should generally reduce their charge by at least the percentage of your attorneys' fees. In other words, if your attorney represents you on a 35% contingency fee, the health care providers who treated you for your injuries should reduce their bills by 35% or more. 

Recently, I managed to negotiate a $14,000 bill from Kaiser insurance to under $5,000 because my client's injury settlement was relatively law. 

You should remember that the representative of the medical office or the health insurance company you are engaging in negotiations with has a significant degree of discretion in the discount that he will give you on your medical bills. Thus, it's really worth being courteous, and instead of demanding reduction in the medical charges, you should try to evoke sympathy and explain why reducing charges will be fair and necessary in light of your injuries, recovery and likely necessary future treatment, if in fact you believe you will need the same. 

An important rule to remember is that if Medi-Cal paid for any of your treatment related to your injury for which you recover a settlement, you and your attorney have an affirmative obligation to reimburse Medi-Cal for at least some of the medical costs they covered. Medi-Cal's lien can also be negotiated, and a useful phone number to have to discuss the lien reduction with medi-cal is (916) 650-0490 (personal injury recovery unit).

Your inability to pay medical bills to get that treatment you need and deserve should never be the reason to actually not be treated after being involved in a car accident or any other injury incident - especially if you know that there is likely to be an insurance coverage by the party at fault. Hundreds of persons injured in the car, motorcycle and other accidents in San Francisco decide not to seek medical treatment because they don't have health insurance and their inability to pay for medical treatment out of pocket.

Many San Francisco injury lawyers, however, have established relationship with doctors who treat injured persons on a lien basis - that is, the doctor accept the risk of paying paid only if and when their patient's injury claim is settled. This means that you are likely to not be required to pay any out-of-pocket expenses until your injury case settles.

If you are unable to pay medical bills and get the treatment for your injuries, this is exactly the time when you should consider hiring a an experienced San Francisco injury lawyer. An attorney will likely refer you to the doctor or several physicians who will be willing to treat you on a lien basis (that is, they agree to be paid only if and when your injury claim settles). Later, when your claim settles, your attorney will be able to negotiate your medical charges with the providers and substantially reduce them, to make sure that you receive greater recovery in your claim.