Yes you must. Federal law requires it and both your attorney and the settling insurance company to make sure that Medicare's lien is taken care of. This function is generally carried out by the injured victim's attorney through a dialogue with the Center for Medicare and  Medicaid services.

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. If your health insurer is a program through medicaid then you or your lawyer must notify them of your prospective claim, settlement of verdict.

If you have private health insurance your obligation often will turn on whether the insurance company notifies you or your attorney of  such a claim.

No they won't, unless they are compelled to by a judge or jury or do so voluntarily as part of a personal injury settlement. Better get a good lawyer.

The answer to this question is complicated. If you have signed a written agreement or as it is usually called, an authorization and assignment, then your failure to do so and your lawyer's failure to do so can get you both sued by the doctor. The best approach under these circumstanced is to negotiate with the doctor on a reduced payment.

If you haven't signed anything and the doctor isn't nipping at your heals (or his collection agency) then you have a decision to make. You can wait for the three year statute of limitations to expire in which case the doctor can sue but will get booted out of court for not filing in time. Or, you can contact the doctor's office and seek a reduction.

What if you submitted your health insurance? This too is complicated but typically health insurers have agreements with doctors to accept a certain amount of money for certain activities. For example, a doctor may perform an x-ray of your low back and the bill says $100.00. Blue Cross may have an agreement to pay them $33.00 for the x-ray. So what happens to the missing $67.00?

Nothing should happen to it. The doctor is a party to a contract with Blue Cross that stipulates that they get paid a certain amount and that is that. Talk to your lawyer if the doctor is trying to collect the remaining money,

When you are in a crash and seek compensation for your injuries, the insurance company will seek your social security number so they can use the so-called index system to look for prior claims by you. You don't have to give it to them but they don't have to negotiate a settlement with you either so generally we suggest providing this information.

Yes they can and yes they will. The insurance industry routinely aks your atorney for so-called "Indexing information" which often includes your social security number, address and date of birth.

Many victims in car and truck accidents reinjure parts of their bodies that have been hurt previously. The inevitable question is whether or not they should disclose the preexisting problems to the insurance companies, their doctors and their lawyers?

The answer is an emphatic "Yes"! Insurance companies have access to a database which purports to reflect all prior injury claims, so once they get your date of birth and name they know quickly whether or not you have been hurt before, what part of you was injured, how it was injured, who the insurance company was and how much was paid.

For doctors, effective treatment requires knowledge of your past medical history both to treat and to ensure that their medical reports are credible.

As for your lawyer, they must know the truth about everything and most particularly about prior claims and injuries in order to maximize your fair compensation.

How do Maryland car accident cases work?

This is a frequently asked question and can mean a number of things. First, there are several kinds of Maryland car accident cases. Some involve just property damage and some feature both property damage and personal injury. Maryland is a uniquely bad state in which to be involved in a crash as the state continues to observe an out-dated legal doctrine, that of contributory negligence.

Contributory negligence compares the conduct of drivers involved in car accidents and a driver who is negligent even to a small degree can be deprived of compensation for personal injuries, even if the other driver is overwhelmingly at fault.

So assuming that you were not negligent, the typical practice in Maryland car crash cases involves the at-fault driver's insurance company either repairing or replacing your damaged vehicle with the additional possible provision of a rental car. If you are injured, you can submit your medical expenses, lost income documentation and supporting medical records to the at-fault driver's insurance company with an eye towards settlement.

Insurance companies routinely disagree with car and truck crash victims on the value of their cases and that is why lawyers like Clark and Steinhorn, LLC exist.