What Is a Medical Lien?

For the purpose of a personal injury case, a medical lien is a demand for repayment that a doctor or medical facility places on your personal injury settlement.

If you’ve filed a personal injury claim to recover damages, including the costs of your medical care, the people and facilities who provided that care can file a lien against your settlement or court award.

If you have medical bills from your accident, your lawyer may be able to help you negotiate the payment of those bills. You may choose to pay some of those bills yourself, use pre-settlement legal funding to help pay them, or negotiate a medical lien.

Medical Lien-Based Continuing Care

For medical care and evaluation after you have filed your personal injury claim, your lawyer may suggest finding a lien-based doctor, surgeon, or hospital for continuing care and medical assessment. In this scenario, rather than charging you upfront for your medical care, the provider agrees to treat personal injury victims on lien.

In this way, you avoid further financial hardship while recovering from your injuries and helping your lawyer build a strong case.

However, finding doctors and hospitals that will agree to a medical lien can be time-consuming. That’s where High Rise Financial comes in. We have access to a network of doctors, surgeons, surgery centers, and hospitals that provide lien-based medical care to personal injury victims.

These medical providers include, but are not limited to:

• Orthopedic surgeons
• Neurosurgeons
• General surgeons
• Plastic surgeons
• Oral surgeons
• Anesthesiologists
• Pain management
• Neurologists
• Podiatrists
• Physical therapists
• Surgery centers
• Hospitals

It’s important that you continue to get the medical care you need, even if you cannot pay your medical bills right now. All of the medical providers in our network are compassionate, caring, and highly qualified. The fact that they work on lien does not impact the quality of care you will receive.

How the High Rise Financial Medical Lien Process Works

Finding lien-based medical care through High Rise Financial is a relatively simple process.

1. You submit your information and the type of care you need.
2. We confirm that a lien-based doctor is available in your area and request your medical case information.
3. We help set up your first appointment and email you the details. After that, you can communicate directly with the medical provider.

We strive to make the process quick and easy for you.

Requesting Medical Funding for a Hospital or Surgery Center

We also provide medical funding for hospitals and surgery centers. The process is very similar but may take a little longer.

1. You or your lawyer submit your information in the form, and we will confirm if your preferred surgery center or hospital is in our network.
2. We request all of your medical case information and documentation.
3. When we receive the information we need, we review your case and approve or deny your request within 48 hours.

If You Want to Be Treated by a Non-Lien-Based Doctor

If you want to stick with the doctor who has been seeing you, High Rise Financial can help by providing payments directly to the medical provider. We keep impeccable records of all medical costs. You would then repay us instead of the medical provider when you win your case.

A Medical Lien Will Impact the Proceeds from Your Settlement

When your personal injury claim settles or you get a court award, the medical lien becomes due. This means the cost of any medical assessments, treatments, surgeries, or other medical care will be deducted from the settlement amount.

If the medical providers demand more money than you received, your lawyer can try to negotiate a lower fee.

Keep in mind that in addition to paying off a medical lien, there are several other things that will be deducted from your settlement before you receive any proceeds. These include:

• Your lawyer’s legal fees
• Repayment of legal funding, if you received any previously
• Back taxes

Once these payments have been made, the rest of the settlement proceeds are yours. If you agreed to a structured settlement, this may mean that you receive payments spread out over a certain length of time, rather than in one lump sum. This is more common with larger settlements that exceed $150,000.

If this is the case, your lawyer will help ensure that the first payment is larger than the rest in order to pay the medical lien and legal fees.

A Medical Lien Is Risky for the Doctor

A doctor who agrees to provide care based on a medical lien is taking a risk. They are agreeing to provide care with no upfront or timely payment. They also agree to wait for payment until you win your case, which could be months or even years into the future.

It’s for this reason that lien-based doctors network with firms like High Rise Financial. We vet the strength of your case and your potential settlement. If you have a strong case, it is easier to find a doctor who will enter into a medical lien agreement with you. We fund the medical provider a discounted rate upfront, then the remaining costs are put on the lien. But, just like your personal injury lawyer, if you don’t win your case, the doctor does not get paid.

Apply to Find a Lien-Based Doctor and Get Funding Now

High Rise Financial helps personal injury lawyers and plaintiffs find lien-based doctors and medical facilities. We have a network of doctors, surgeons, surgery centers, and hospitals that will treat personal injury plaintiffs on lien.

To get started, you or your lawyer can start the process of finding a lien-based doctor by filling out the contact form on the medical lien funding page. If you have questions, you can Click to Chat, or call (866) 407-6404.