Personal Injury

In place of using one’s insurance to attain medical attention, lien doctors are becoming a more prominent option for those who have incurred personal injuries via auto accidents. But is the idea of lien doctors realistic for the majority of those involved in auto accidents? If one attains a lawyer, the lawyer will receive between 33% and 40% in contingency fees from a settlement or verdict, and a lien doctor would only increase the amount that the patient would have to pay out (Sara Randazzo, Who Wins a Personal-Injury Lawsuit? It Can Be the Doctor, The Wall Street Journal). The benefit of having a lien doctor is that he or she is able to provide options that the patient’s insurance may not cover; by waiting to be paid until after the case is settled, or a verdict has be reached, the lien doctor becomes blinded to the range of treatment he or she can offer the patient. However, the patient is not guaranteed a lumpsum of funding that will pay all of his or her medical and contingency fees. Additionally, the lien doctor sets a premium for the patient because it is riskier for him or her to wait to be paid. Consider that going to a lien doctor is equally risky for the patient. Whether the lawsuit covers payment for the lien doctor or not, the doctor will be paid in full. Although there are verdicts and settlements, where the patient was able to pay all parties involved without financial stress, understanding the probability of payment to one’s lien doctor, in addition to other parties, proves crucial to whether an individual in an auto accident should attain a lien doctor.

 

Sara Randazzo, Who Wins a Personal-Injury Lawsuit? It Can Be the Doctor, The Wall Street Journal, https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-wins-in-a-personal-injury-lawsuit-it-can-be-the-doctor-11578479400