Being injured in a car accident can leave you with significant medical bills, lost wages, and uncertainty about your financial future. If the at-fault driver has no insurance, you may turn to your uninsured motorist coverage (UM) or underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) to help cover your expenses. However, even when your insurer pays a settlement amount, you may discover that part of those funds is subject to medical liens from hospitals, doctors, or government programs.
At Munley Law, we regularly assist clients dealing with uninsured motorist car accidents, and we can help you answer the question ‘How do medical liens affect my uninsured motorist settlement and what can I do about them?’ In Pennsylvania, accident victims often face this same problem. Whether you are hit by a truck on I-76, I-80, or I-95, medical liens can have a direct and significant impact on the recovery you ultimately receive.
How Liens Affect Settlement Amounts
A lien impacts the settlement amount and the money you actually keep. Here is a simplified example:
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UM settlement: $100,000
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Hospital lien: $25,000
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Medicaid lien: $10,000
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Attorney fees and costs: $33,000
Without negotiation, you might only receive around $32,000. However, with an attorney experienced with successful lien reduction, your take-home amount could be significantly higher. This is only one of the benefits of an attorney familiar with insurance companies, and uninsured and underinsured motorist claims is so valuable.
How Medical Liens and Uninsured Motorist Claims May Impact Your Settlement
When you receive medical treatment after a crash, the healthcare provider, whether a hospital, physical therapist, or surgeon, may file a medical lien against your case. This lien gives them the right to be reimbursed directly from any settlement you receive.
Liens may still attach even if your insured motorist coverage pays your damages. For example, a medical lien holder such as a hospital may assert a claim for the amount of treatment provided, even if your settlement came from your insurer rather than the at-fault driver’s.
This means that even though you paid premiums for coverage, you may not see the full payout because you must satisfy the lien first. Our lawyers can often step in to negotiate with the lien holder, seeking a lien reduction so that you receive a larger portion of your recovery.
What Uninsured Motorist Settlement Liens Mean for You
If the at-fault driver was uninsured and your policy provides uninsured motorist coverage, the same lien issues may apply. Hospitals, doctors, and government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid have legal rights to reimbursement. Here is how it works:
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Healthcare provider liens: Hospitals frequently file liens for emergency treatment, especially when no health insurance information is available at the time of admission.
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Government program liens: If Medicare or Medicaid paid for your care, these agencies have statutory rights to recover part of your settlement.
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Health insurance carrier liens: Private health insurers may seek reimbursement under the terms of your policy if they paid bills connected to the accident.
In short, uninsured motorist settlement liens can significantly reduce the funds you receive. However, with strong negotiation, our personal injury attorneys can often limit the lien to a fair portion of your recovery, especially when factoring in attorney fees and case risks.
How Your Own Policy Interacts with UM Coverage Medical Liens
Many people assume that because they are making a claim against their own uninsured motorist coverage, they will not face lien issues. Unfortunately, liens do not depend on the source of payment. They depend on whether someone else, like a hospital, insurer, or government program, has a legal right to reimbursement. Examples of uninsured motorist coverage medical liens include:
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A hospital files a lien for trauma care after a highway collision
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Your health insurance carrier asserts reimbursement rights after paying for surgery
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Medicare demands repayment of accident-related medical bills
Our lawyers can push back by highlighting that settlement funds must be divided fairly between you, your attorney, and the lien holder. In many cases, lien holders are willing to compromise through lien reduction negotiations to avoid lengthy disputes.
Health Insurance Liens Against Uninsured Motorist Claims
Health insurers often include subrogation clauses in their contracts. Subrogation allows the insurer to demand repayment from your settlement for any accident-related bills they covered. For example, suppose a Pennsylvania hospital treated you after a crash on I-95. In that case, your health insurance carrier might cover the bills but later assert a lien when you recover through uninsured motorist benefits.
While these liens are legally enforceable, they are not always absolute. With the right legal strategy, our attorneys may argue for a reduced reimbursement amount, considering attorney fees, the risk of litigation, and equitable considerations.
Lien Reduction and Negotiation Strategies
The good news is that liens are rarely set in stone. Negotiation is possible, and sometimes expected, particularly with a limited settlement. Some strategies include:
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Proportional reductions: Asking lien holders to share in the cost of attorney fees, lowering their claim by the same percentage as your lawyer’s fee
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Hardship arguments: Demonstrating that full repayment would leave you with little to no compensation
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Legal challenges: Disputing whether the lien was properly filed or whether the charges are reasonable
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Medicare and Medicaid rules: Using federal regulations that allow for compromise in certain circumstances
Our skilled legal team can make a meaningful difference in the settlement amount that remains in your pocket.
The Role of Attorney Fees and Costs
One often overlooked element in lien cases is the impact of attorney fees. Under federal statutes governing Medicare and Medicaid, lien holders are generally required to reduce their claim proportionally to account for legal costs. For instance, if your lawyer charges a 33% fee, the lien holder may be required to reduce its recovery by that same percentage. This requirement distributes the financial burden more sustainably.
Failing to Address a Medical Lien
Ignoring a medical lien can have serious penalties. A hospital, insurance company, or government program has the right to pursue repayment, and they often do. If you do not address a lien, the lien holder may:
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File a lawsuit against you to collect the debt
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Send the balance to collections, damaging your credit
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Withhold future benefits, in the case of Medicare or Medicaid
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Create obstacles in finalizing your settlement, since insurers may require you to resolve liens before paying out funds
Because these risks can jeopardize your finances and your peace of mind, it is always better to work with an attorney who can resolve the lien properly and, when possible, negotiate it down.
Why Should You Hire Our Record-Setting Personal Injury Lawyers?
When you choose Munley Law, you are leaning on a legacy built over more than six decades of extraordinary legal achievement in Pennsylvania. Our team is not just experienced. We are board-certified, nationally recognized, and consistently ranked among the very best in the profession.
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Proven legal excellence: Since 1993, all our partners and many associates have been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, and several have received “Lawyer of the Year” honors. Our attorneys are also regulars on the Pennsylvania Super Lawyers list, and many are board-certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in areas like trucking, civil trial advocacy, and workers’ compensation.
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Elite peer recognition and trial success: We hold the prestigious AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, a distinction reserved for legal professionals highly respected for ability and integrity. Many of our attorneys are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an exclusive group representing less than 1% of U.S. lawyers, acknowledging our success.
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Record-setting results: Our firm’s outcomes are headline-worthy and include a $32.25 million airplane-crash settlement, a $17.5 million verdict in the Mid Valley Eight teen death case, $12 million for a forklift-accident victim, and other multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements.
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Top national recognition: Munley Law earned four Regional Tier 1 rankings in the 2024 Best Law Firms for Northeastern Pennsylvania, in areas including personal injury litigation and product liability.
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Leadership in trucking accident law: Partner Daniel W. Munley is a triple-board-certified trial lawyer, recently securing a record-breaking $26 million truck accident settlement for an individual plaintiff in Northeastern PA, the largest of its kind in the region.
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An iron-clad, client-first promise: We back our work with a contingency-fee model, meaning you pay nothing unless we win. You will never pay out of pocket, and we commit our full resources, experience, and coordination to your case.
Choosing Munley Law means hiring nationally recognized, record-setting attorneys whose results are proven, whose reputation is trusted, and whose success is built on your justice. It is why generations of personal injury victims trust us when their lives depend on the law.
Contact Our Personal Injury Lawyers at Munley Law Today
Medical liens can reduce the amount you take home from an uninsured motorist settlement, but you can also manage them through negotiation and lien reduction. If you were injured because of someone else’s negligence, our experienced lawyers can help protect your recovery.
Contact our Pennsylvania personal injury team at Munley Law today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your uninsured motorist coverage claim and how we can help you keep more of your settlement.
