Auto Accident Subrogation and Military Service Members
June 26th, 2009I am an active duty member of the military and I was rear ended on the highway near El Paso. My buddy said that I have to deal with some liens for the amount the military paid for my treatment. Is this true?
I am sorry to hear about your troubles. Your friend is indeed correct that there may be some trouble in settling your claim. Federal law provides that the military insurance company, TRICARE, may subrogate what it pays for the medical care of a service member when that care is required because of the negligence of another. Take a look at the military auto accident subrogation law by clicking the link or reading below.
“In the case of a person who is a covered beneficiary, the United States shall have the right to collect from a third-party payer reasonable charges for health care services incurred by the United States on behalf of such person through a facility of the uniformed services to the extent that the person would be eligible to receive reimbursement or indemnification from the third-party payer if the person were to incur such charges on the person’s own behalf.” 10 U.S.C. 1095(a)
What does this mean for you? Well, in short, a service member who recovers money from the insurance of the at-fault driver has an obligation to reimburse TRICARE for what TRICARE has spent on the military member’s accident related medical care. TRICARE doesn’t even need to notify the military member of this obligation, and if the service member ignores the obligation, TRICARE could come after him or her personally for the money.
Of course, the attorneys at an experienced and reputable personal injury law firm will have the expertise to guide service members injured in car accidents. In fact, our firm has had great success negotiating with TRICARE and thereby increasing our clients total net recovery.
Disclaimer: We are licensed Texas attorneys, and base our writings on Texas law. This information is current and accurate at the time of posting. We do not update previous posts if/when the laws change. This blog does not constitute legal advice.