Hospitals are more aggressive than ever about filing hospital liens. A hospital lien is a claim against your personal injury lawsuit. In my opinion, most liens are improper especially in cases where the patient is an HMO insured or insured by health insurance where the hospital is a participating provider. In those situations, Florida's HMO Act states that the HMO, and not the patient, is indebted to the hospital. Therefore, any claim of lien filed in the name of the patient is improper because the lien claims that the patient owes the hospital money. This simply is not true.

Hospital lien litigation is just beginning in Florida. Recently, two courts in Florida have held that liens filed by hospitals were invalid where the patient had health insurance coverage for the services. Here is what Florida judges have said about liens:

"The Hospital has no right to recourse against the patient except for co-payments or deductibles."

And,

"The Hospital's contract with the health insurer says that the patient will not be legally indebted to the Hospital for any charges for services covered therein. Therefore, the Hospital has no lien for the same because the underlying debt is extinguished."

Courts in other states have condemned hospitals that engage in this illegal practice. The two recent decisions referenced above are South Broward Hospital District d/b/a Memorial Regional Hospital v. Gibson, 8 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 839 (Fla. 17th Jud. Cir. Oct. 1, 2001) and Giddes v. Lee Memorial Health System, 10 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. (Fla. 20th Jud. Cir. July 18, 2003). These excellent decisions demonstrate how hospitals are using hospital liens as a way to maximize their financial recovery to the detriment of its patients by attempting to avoid health insurance and HMO discounted payments which require substantial write-offs. This practice is highly deceptive to patients and is illegal in the opinion of two Florida judges.

Brett M. Bressler, P.A. is one of the few law firms in Florida that litigates hospital liens. We fight hospitals on this issue.

If a hospital lien has been filed against you, you may have a cause of action against that hospital for violation of Florida's Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

In addition to your claim against the hospital for damages, this firm can assist you in obtaining a release of lien or a satisfaction of lien.

Special note to attorneys: Please alert me regarding any new decisions on hospital liens either in or outside of Florida.