Lawsuit Filed Against Hospital For Exorbitant ER Bill
Our San Francisco personal injury attorneys know it is not uncommon to see exorbitant emergency bills in accident cases, including auto collisions, falls, and similar situations. Recently, a woman filed a lawsuit challenging a hospital’s $20,211 emergency room bill, incurred after she was involved in an accident caused by a driver going the wrong way. According to an article in The Galveston County Daily News, the woman claims the large bill is unreasonable for the 4 hours of examination and diagnostic tests she received.
Woman Taken to Hospital After Car Accident Involving Wrong-Way Driver Who May Have Fallen Asleep at the Wheel
The 23-year old woman was injured last spring in a three-car collision that involved a wrong-way driver. The police report stated that an SUV tried to avoid the wrong-way driver but was sideswiped by the driver’s pickup. The wrong-way driver then struck another truck head on. The woman was a passenger in the truck that was hit head on. The police noted that the wrong-way driver could have fallen asleep at the wheel.
The injured woman had hired a injury attorney to file a claim against the wrong-way driver who caused the accident, and that suit settled for $30,000. Although the young woman received minimal treatment at the hospital, her bill totaled over $20,000. The lawsuit claims that the hospital initially charged a much lower amount but later increased its bill fivefold and made a claim against her insurance settlement. The woman’s bill, which was originally $4,850, suddenly rose to $20,211. The hospital then made a claim on the woman’s accident settlement for the entire bill.
Excessive Emergency Room Bills in California Automobile Accident Cases
Unfortunately, bad billing behavior like this happens more than you might think. The Bay Area accident lawyers at Callaway & Wolf have seen a lot of excessive emergency room bills in California automobile accident cases. Usually the hospitals have deals in place with all health insurers to accept much less, and they accept even lower reimbursement from Medi-Cal or Medicare. Also, if no insurance is involved, most hospitals will negotiate with an individual patient and offer a steep discount. However, sometimes if a health care facility knows that someone was in an accident, they try to collect a substantially larger amount—what the hospital calls the “gross amount.” Other times, health insurance carriers will try to avoid paying accident-related bills altogether. On many occasions we have had clients say they were told that their health insurance does not cover bills resulting from an auto accident that was someone else’s fault, which is false.
What’s California’s Two-Year Statute of Limitations in Automobile Accident Lawsuits?
There is a two-year statute of limitations in a California automobile accident lawsuit. This time period runs from the date of the accident, so the case must be settled or filed in court before the two-year limit is up. Valuable time can be wasted attempting to negotiate with an insurance company because they typically try to settle for the lowest amount possible and may not even offer you enough money to cover your medical bills and lost wages—even if you were not at fault.
Get Proven Bay Area Attorneys on Your Side
Hospitals and insurance companies may try to bully California accident victims over medical bills, because they know victims frequently feel overwhelmed by high medical costs and may be in pain and anxious to settle. Our San Francisco injury lawyers have a strong reputation with the major injury carriers, which allows us to settle a majority of cases quickly and favorably.
Having an experienced personal injury attorney on your side can greatly increase your chances of obtaining a fair settlement. More importantly, it can provide you with peace of mind while you focus on what is most important — healing and getting better. Click here to contact us, and request a free meeting with an attorney to discuss your case.
Boone Callaway is a personal injury & medical malpractice lawyer in San Francisco who has been working with clients in the Bay Area for over 25 years. Mr. Callaway is one of only a few personal injury litigators in San Francisco who is a Super Lawyer, AV Rated and is also a member of ABOTA – American Board of Trial Advocates.
