Third-Party Liability

 THIRD-PARTY LIABILITY AND ACCIDENT CLAIMS/MVA’S

Manziel Law Offices represents hospitals in the area of hospital lien enforcement.  When patients are  injured in accidents, that results in personal injury and tort claims, primarily against the wrongdoers/tortfeasors and their auto carriers, such as Allstate, State Farm, Liberty Mutual, etc.  After receiving treatment, patients often retain a personal injury collection attorney to collect first party benefits such as personal injury protection (PIP) or Medpay, uninsured motorist benefits (UM), underinsured motorists benefits (UIM), and the tortfeasors’ third party liability benefits available through the tortfeasors’ auto coverage.  Texas has long protected hospitals against non-payment for medical goods and services rendered to patients treated after having been involved in accidents, such as car wrecks/auto accidents, slip and falls, dog bites, ATV accidents, etc.   Per Section 55.003 of the Texas hospital lien statute, the hospital lien attaches to a cause of action for damages arising from an injury for which the injured individual is admitted to the hospital.  The Texas legislature recently clarified the lien statute to help with much debate.  A new change was finally made to the Texas lien statute, after many years of legal argument and debate over what the term “admitted” really meant.   Section 55.0015 offered clarification to define the term “admission”.  The Texas legislature defined “admission” to mean that an injured individual or patient is considered “admitted” to a hospital when the patient is allowed access to any hospital department for the provision of medical treatment, care, or service.  This is the law today.  In addition, the Texas legislature offered guidance on just how much of a personal injury settlement can be used to pay the hospital for the medical goods and services rendered to personal injury victims.  The revised Texas lien statute at Section 55.004(b) provides hospital reimbursement protection by ensuring to the hospitals a lien that is for the lesser of the amount of the hospital’s charges for services rendered to the injured individual or fifty (50%) percent of all amounts recovered by the injured individual or patient through a cause of action, judgment, or settlement as described by Section 55.003(a).  Of course, a full understanding of rights and remedies available pursuant to the Texas hospital lien statute is located at Chapter 55 of the Texas Property Code. PROPERTY CODE CHAPTER 55. HOSPITAL AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES LIENS (texas.gov)