If you are a healthcare provider in New York, you probably have heard every conceivable excuse for nonpayment of insurance claims. But recently, denial of no-fault insurance claims has become alarmingly troublesome for many New York doctors and hospitals. A New York medical litigation lawyer can help you collect unpaid claim debts.
New York No-Fault Litigation Law
In 1974, the New York Legislature passed the no-fault law. The statute requires New York drivers to carry a minimum of $50,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) insurance. This is no-fault first-party insurance, meaning the injured driver must use his or her own PIP coverage to pay medical bills and certain other allowable expenses—even if the other driver was at fault.
Denial of New York No-Fault Insurance Claims
Though New York no-fault insurance was originally intended to reduce auto insurance rates and to make the process of injured drivers receiving compensation less complicated, the system started to spin out of control in the 1990s because of rapidly mounting health costs. Insurance companies are now presented with huge claims that they have no desire to pay. They look for reasons to deny these claims.
New York Medical Litigation Lawyers Take on No-Fault Insurance Companies
A New York medical litigation lawyer can help medical practitioners collect on their unpaid claims against no-fault insurance companies. A good lawyer should be able to:
• Defend the validity of essential medical procedures. Thorough testing is medically necessary after an accident. Many common procedures are expensive yet required in the diagnosis and treatment of serious injury.
• Justify reasonable delays in the submission of medical bills. 45 days is an unreasonable deadline for submitting medical bills whether it is to be done by the suffering injured person or the understaffed hospital billing department.
• Accompany you to your independent medical exams (IMEs) and take down records of the examination. IMEs invite deception and fraud. The exams are not truly independent — the insurance company chooses the doctor.
• Help prepare you for your appearance at the examinations under oath (EUOs). EUOs are contrived by the insurance companies. They actually hope that the injured victim or the treating physician will not appear.