What Does a Letter from Accelerated Claims, ReveCore, or EnableComp Mean After a Car Accident in Georgia?
If you were hurt in a Georgia car accident and received a letter from Accelerated Claims, ReveCore, EnableComp, or another hospital lien company, it usually means the hospital is trying to determine how it will get paid for your accident-related treatment. In many cases, the hospital may be preparing to file a lien against your injury settlement instead of simply billing your health insurance.
The Hospital May Be Trying to File a Lien Against Your Injury Settlement
Georgia law gives certain medical providers, including hospitals, the right to file a lien against a personal injury claim for the reasonable charges of care and treatment related to the injuries. The lien is only against the injured person’s claim or settlement. It is not against the person’s house, bank account, or other property.
In a car accident case, that means the hospital may try to recover its bill directly from the eventual settlement with the at-fault driver’s insurance company.
Hospitals do this because they can receive more money from filing a lien against the settlement than from billing health insurance. Health insurers usually have contracted rates with hospitals. Those rates can substantially reduce the amount the hospital gets paid.
A hospital lien is different. If the hospital does not bill health insurance and files a lien, it can recover more of its bill from the settlement.
Georgia Law Requires the Hospital to Bill Health Insurance Before It Can Enforce A Lien
Georgia law gives injured people important protection in this situation.
Georgia law O.C.G.A. § 44-14-471(c) states that a hospital lien is not enforceable unless the hospital first submits the claim to health insurance and has the claim rejected.
As a practical matter, this means that hospitals should bill your health insurance before filing a lien. And if the hospital does so, health insurance will usually pay your bill, resolving any lien issue.
Why This Matters
Hospital liens can significantly reduce the amount you receive from the settlement. And if there’s no settlement, you’re still responsible for the bill, even though it’s the hospital’s fault for failing to bill your health insurance.
For example, assume a hospital bill is $40,000. If the hospital bills health insurance, the contracted rate may reduce the bill substantially. But if the hospital files a lien, it will try to recover a much larger amount from the settlement.
There’s also a deadline for a hospital to bill your health insurance. Most health insurance policies require medical bills to be submitted within a certain amount of time. The deadline varies by policy. Some policies may allow up to a year, but others may have shorter deadlines. If the hospital waits too long and misses the health insurance company’s timely submission deadline, the health insurance may refuse to pay the bill. That can leave the patient facing an unpaid hospital bill that should have been submitted to health insurance earlier.
What Should You Do If You Get a Letter from Accelerated Claims, ReveCore, EnableComp, or Another Hospital Lien Company?
Don’t ignore it.
Take the following steps:
- Confirm That the Hospital Has Your Health Insurance Information
Make sure the hospital and the lien company have your correct health insurance information.
If the hospital claims it cannot bill health insurance because it does not have the information, provide it in writing and keep a copy.
- Ask The Hospital To Bill Health Insurance
Ask the hospital or lien company to submit the bill to health insurance and do so in writing. Tell them, “Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 44-14-471(c), please submit my bill to health insurance.”
Do this as soon as possible. Health insurance policies usually have timely submission deadlines. If the hospital delays and misses the deadline, the health insurance company may deny the claim even though the treatment would otherwise have been covered.
Under Georgia law, if the hospital does not first bill health insurance and have the claim rejected, then the lien may not be enforceable.
- Find Out Whether There Is Med Pay Coverage
Medical Payments coverage, often called Med Pay, is an optional automobile insurance coverage that pays medical bills after a crash regardless of who was at fault. Hospitals and lien companies sometimes ask whether you have Med Pay coverage before submitting your bill to health insurance. If they do so, you’ll need to gather documents showing whether you do or not.
That may include:
- the at-fault driver’s insurance policy information
- your own auto insurance declarations page
- a letter from the insurance company confirming no Med Pay coverage exists
- confirmation of whether the vehicle you occupied had Med Pay coverage
- confirmation of whether any household policy provides Med Pay coverage
This step can be tedious, but it can be important. If no Med Pay exists, you may need to prove that to get the hospital to move forward with billing health insurance.
- Put Everything in Writing
Phone calls are easy to deny or misunderstand.
If a hospital or lien vendor is refusing to bill health insurance, you should put your request in writing. A written request creates a record showing that you asked the hospital to bill available health insurance.
When You May Need a Lawyer
You may need a lawyer if:
- The hospital refuses to bill your health insurance
- A company like Accelerated Claims, ReveCore, or EnableComp says it intends to file a lien
- The hospital claims there is no health insurance coverage, even though you provided your card
- The hospital is demanding proof that there is no Med Pay coverage
- The lien company is asking you to sign documents you do not understand
- The hospital has already filed a lien
- The hospital bill is large enough to affect your settlement
- The at-fault driver’s insurance company is asking about liens before settlement
- You are unsure whether your health insurance, Med Pay, uninsured motorist coverage, or the hospital lien applies.
A lawyer can help identify available insurance coverage, obtain Med Pay denial letters or declarations pages, demand that the hospital bill health insurance, check whether a lien was properly filed, and negotiate or challenge the lien when appropriate.
The Main Takeaway
A letter from Accelerated Claims, ReveCore, EnableComp, or another hospital lien company usually means the hospital is investigating how to get paid for accident-related treatment.
It may also mean the hospital is trying to file a lien against your car accident settlement instead of billing your health insurance.
In Georgia, that distinction matters. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-471(c) generally requires the hospital to submit the claim to the injured person’s health insurer before its lien can be enforceable. If the hospital skips that step, the lien may be vulnerable.
The safest approach is to act early: provide your health insurance information, determine whether Med Pay exists, request that the hospital bill health insurance, keep everything in writing, and get legal help if the hospital or its lien company refuses to handle the bill correctly.
FAQ
What does an Accelerated Claims, ReveCore, or EnableComp letter mean after a car accident?
A letter from Accelerated Claims, ReveCore, EnableComp, or a similar company usually means the hospital is investigating how it will get paid for accident-related medical treatment. These companies often ask about health insurance, auto insurance, Medical Payments coverage, and whether you have a personal injury claim. The hospital may be trying to determine whether it can recover more from filing a lien against your injury settlement than it would receive by billing health insurance.
It does not always mean you owe the full amount listed in the letter. But you should not ignore it. The letter may affect whether the hospital bills your health insurance or tries to recover its charges from your injury settlement.
Is a hospital lien letter the same thing as a bill?
No. It is a notice that the hospital or its lien company is investigating available insurance coverage, asking for information, or preparing to file a hospital lien.
But the letter still matters. If the hospital does not bill health insurance on time, health insurance may later deny the claim. That can create problems with both the hospital bill and the injury settlement.
Can a Georgia hospital file a lien instead of billing health insurance?
A Georgia hospital may try to file a lien after accident-related treatment, but O.C.G.A. § 44-14-471(c) creates an important limitation. If the injured person has health insurance, the hospital lien is not enforceable unless the provider first submits the claim to each health insurer and has the claim rejected.
In practical terms, a hospital generally should submit its claim to your health insurance before filing a lien against your injury settlement, but it is often necessary to request the hospital to do so.
Why would a hospital file a lien instead of billing health insurance?
Hospitals file liens against injury settlements because they can usually recover more money from a settlement than they would by billing health insurance.
Why is the hospital asking whether I have Med Pay coverage?
Medical Payments coverage, often called Med Pay, is optional auto insurance coverage that can pay medical bills after a crash, regardless of who was at fault.
Hospitals and lien companies sometimes ask about Med Pay before billing health insurance. They may want proof that there is no Med Pay coverage available. That proof may include a declarations page from your auto policy or a letter from the insurance company confirming that there is no Med Pay coverage.
What happens if the hospital waits too long to bill health insurance?
Health insurance may deny payment for the bill.
Most health insurance policies require medical bills to be submitted within a certain time period. The deadline varies by policy. Some policies may allow up to a year, but others may have shorter deadlines.
If the hospital waits too long and misses the timely submission deadline, health insurance may deny the claim even though the treatment would otherwise have been covered. That is why it is important to ask the hospital, in writing, to bill health insurance as soon as possible.