Virginia Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Blog

Chiropractor Billing Scam

Here's a scam we are seeing with some frequency. While we see it with health care providers in different specialties we see it mos often with chiropractors.

If you have been injured in an accident and are being treated by a chiropractor, pay attention as this may affect how much money you get from your case.

Here's how the chiropractic billing scam works:

You are in an accident and you seek out chiropractor for services.

You have excellent health insurance/health benefits for which you are paying a premium. Ordinarily your bills (or most of them would be covered).

Chiropractor asks you to sign a "lien agreement" or assignemtn of proceeds of the case to him. He then NEVER bills your insurance company but seeks to collect full amount of his bill from you.

Why would he do that? Typically the insurance company pays a set fee to the chiropractor which is less than the full amount of the bill. Understand that if the chiropractor accepts insurance he has already agreed to accept less than his full bill and he has agreed that he cannot bill you for the rest (or else what would be the purpose in having insurance?)

The chiropractor, knowing there is a personal injury case involved then "forgets" (or deliberately decides) to bill your insurance company because he want to bill YOU for the whole amount after your case settles.

What is WRONG with this scenario is that you have paid an insurance premium for the trade that you won't get stuck with the whole bill. Just because you were in a car accident doesn't change things but some chiropractors (and other health care providers) see your auto case as their big payday.

Its wrong and its your responsibility to make sure that you stay on top of whether the chiropractor is actually sending the bills to the insurance company. This will avoid a big surprise and FIGHT at the end of your case.

Can a Car Insurance Company Deny Benefits for Chiropractic Care, Claiming They are Not "Real" Doctors?

Here's an interesting question about chiropractic care and insurance companies in Virginia.

Here's Ben Glass's answer to that question.

Who Do You Sue In a Car Accident Case? Find Out About a Disaster

Look what happened when a Virginia car accident victim decided to take the car insurance company on on his own.

The ending isn't good. Here's the story about this car accident.

Sign Insurance Company Releases at Your Own Risk

Our "tagline" is that if you've been injured in an accident you may not need a lawyer but you should get the free books (The Accident Book, The Malpractice Book) before talking to the adjuster, hiring a lawyer or signing any forms.

Just this past week we've spoken to several folks who would have benefited from the education these books provide.

In one case, a personal injury claimant came to us as the statute of limitations was running on what seemed to be a very decent case. Unfortunately, she had hired an attorney who was not an experienced injury attorney and he had not done all of the work that was necessary to prepare the case or communicate with her. We declined the case as our job is not to fix the messess created by other lawyers.

In a second case, a claimant who's injuries have gotten more extensive after he signed a valid release wanted us to "undo" the release he signed to get the insurance company's offer of quick cash.

Sorry, we are lawyers, not magicians. You sign a release, you live with it.

Both cases demonstrate that there is a startling lack of knowledge out there about the claims process and even about hiring lawyers.

This is why I do all of the writing and speaking that I do on these subjects.

If a 14 year old walking in the street is hit, is the driver responsible

We got an interesting question over the weekend about liability and responsibility in Virginia to pedestrians.

Virginia accident attorney Ben Glass's answer is here.

More Good Advice About Dealing With the Personal Injury Insurance Adjuster

Iowa attorney Corey Walker hits the nail on the head with his post about insurance adjusters.

Hey, they ARE just doing their job but THEIR job is to pay you as little money as possible, get you to sign to "case closed" forms and move on.

At least, if yuou are going to handle your claim yourself, get educated about the process.

If you've been hurt you may not need a lawyer but before you talk to the insurance adjuster, hire a lawyer or sign any forms, get informed!