HANDLING MEDICARE LIENS FOR YOUR PERSONAL INJURY CASE

When you have been awarded a fair settlement for your personal injury case, it can be quite frustrating to realize that your check is held up due to lien of Medicare. You can avoid this situation if you are organized from the start and be ready by the time the adjuster is going to issue your check.

Know Your Medicare Benefits

If you have Medicare, it is magnificent to familiarize yourself with the benefits you are entitled to, and make copies of all the correspondence, statements, and bills you receive from them. Medicare will be very slow in providing any sort of information, and hence you need to be calm while dealing with them.

Provide COBC with the Required Information

You need to send your notification immediately to Medicare’s COBC (Coordination of Benefits Contractor) with the following information:

• Your name, HICN, date of birth, and contact information
• All information regarding your case including date of accident, description of injuries, type of claim and so on
• The name and contact information of your attorney who is representing you on this case
• Signed Proof of Representation and Consent to Release documents
• Receive Rights and Responsibility Letter from MSPRC

Once your case is opened by COBC, you should be receiving Rights and Responsibility Letter from MSPRC (Medicare Secondary Payer Recovery Center), which provides the details of the process.

Send Proof of Representation to MSPRC

The MSPRC will not move further with your case unless they receive Proof of Representation from you.

Receive Conditional Payment Letter

You should receive this letter with Payment Summary within 65 days of receiving the letter of Rights and Responsibilities.

Notify Medicare when the Case is Settled

Once your case is settled, immediately notify the MSPRC. In the notification, you need to provide the following information:

Settlement amount and date

Costs and fees of your attorney

Information about liability insurer

Settlement agreement’s copy