By Daniel Casciato
Glen Ged, founding partner of Boca Raton, FL-based Ged Lawyers, LLP
Hospitals and medical practices are missing a significant stream of revenue under the No-Fault Law. The no-fault car insurance system in Florida leaves a lot of room for delays in payments or even non-payments of medical bills by patients who were in car accidents. This often happens because people do not understand their rights under this law or they simply cannot afford to pay their bills right away. As a result, hospital providers and medical practices are left struggling to collect these payments.
Ged Lawyers helps its clients, medical practices and hospitals, collect these overdue and underpaid Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits. PIP coverage pays up to $10,000 of the medical expenses of a patient when he or she suffers any injuries in a car accident.
What PIP Covers
The No-Fault Law in Florida provides coverage for patients if he or she:
- Owns a vehicle
- Is a passenger in a vehicle
- Resides with a resident relative who owns a vehicle
- Is a pedestrian
If a medical provider deems that PIP coverage should apply to medical services provided to the injured patient, the provider has to notify the insurance carrier. Under the No-Fault Law, they have 30 days to pay the provider.
But what happens if they, or the insurance company, don’t pay?
If you are a healthcare provider who has treated a patient who was injured in a car accident, you may be wondering how to collect the PIP benefits to which you are entitled.
Glen Ged, founding partner of Boca Raton, FL-based Ged Lawyers, LLP, which specializes in handling PIP claims, notes that these claims often represent the worst-performing revenue stream for hospitals.
“This is an area of law where we have expertise and we are here to help our clients every step of the way,” he says. “We’ve been doing this for more than 30 years. If you are a hospital or medical practice struggling to collect PIP benefits, contact us. It won’t cost you anything. There are very rare times when you get a lawyer for free. We can collect a lot of money that the insurance company didn’t pay you.”
Ged adds that they can help you get the money you are owed so that you can focus on providing quality patient care.
The firm educates providers on their role in the PIP process and what they need to do to ensure they are being paid correctly. They review provider bills and help appeal any denials. They can also help providers review the intake forms to ensure the provider is capturing all necessary information.
Conducting Retrospective Audits of Unpaid PIP Claims
In addition to recovering this lost revenue for current claims, Ged says they can also help with the recovery of forgotten PIP receivable accounts through a retrospective audit.
“Under the Florida statute, we can go back five years and audit these unpaid bills because the claim is based on a breach of contract,” says Ged. “Sometimes, we can go in and find millions of dollars for clients.”
This retrospective audit is relatively simple. The healthcare provider authorizes access to the Ged Lawyers’ audit team for their PIP billing cases. If the records have not been electronically provided, then the audit team will have the files delivered to the law firm’s offsite facility and deploy mobile scanner vehicles to scan the files.
The audit process begins by indexing each case and applying its internal algorithm. Through this process, they can identify overdue benefits under the No-Fault Law. At this point, in the process, the Statutory Demand letter is sent to the insurance carrier. If necessary, Ged says they will file a lawsuit to collect overdue benefits and litigate through final judgment.
“Our system is seamless,” says Ged. “You sign an authority letter for us to represent you. You don’t pay anything. We quietly do our work and end up giving you money that you are owed. You’re treating these accident victims and you should get paid.”
For more information, visit www.gedlawyers.com.
