Mass Health, Liens, and their Effects on your Personal Injury Settlement

Author: Joshua Brabant

Mass Health is the health insurance of choice for many in Massachusetts. If you have Mass Health and you obtain a settlement from a personal injury case, Mass Health will place a lien on your settlement which means they will seek to enforce their right of recompense for monies paid out.

Mass Health is entitled to repayment for medical bills paid out for the injury victim which are related to the accident. It is important that you pay close attention to the words “related to the accident”, because many times Mass Health will put a lien on the settlement for treatment that may not have been related to the accident: This is because they do not have all of your medical records, which is why it is key to have an attorney who can help you make sure any lien imposed by Mass Health is only for accident related treatment.

Even if the lien is for treatment related to the accident, Mass Health may still decrease their lien if negotiated properly. When settling a personal injury case in Massachusetts a Mass Health check is unavoidable.

The insurance company offering the settlement will run a Department of Revenue or (DOR) check to verify whether or not Mass Health has a lien. It will also look to see if you owe any child support or back taxes to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If a Mass Health lien (or any of the other liens) come up, the insurance companies call this a ‘hit’, and they will either name Mass Health on the settlement check, or cut a separate check for the amount owed to Mass Health and send it to Mass Health with the balance going to you and your attorney.

If you need help with a car accident, or any other personal injury issues please call the car accident attorneys at Brabant & Huynh LLP at 617-934-0913 for your personal injury where we are located in Quincy and Dorchester and we will be glad to help you evaluate your case and ease the burden of going through the process.