After settlement letter from WC recovery service

[badbehavior]

Hello! I'm from California. Back in April of 09 I broke my knee at a job site. I was sent to a hospital close to the job site by my work first. After several hours late in the evening I finally got home. However the pain was so severe and my parents (who had come over to help me get home) couldn't move me and decided there had to be something else wrong as I was almost passing out from the intense pain. So they took me to my local hospital with which I have coverage. That hospital said the break was so severe that it needed surgery that night and the brace that the first hospital put on was not the right fit. It was later decided they wanted to consult a specialist so the surgery was put off. The next day I called my workers comp claims co and told them I went to a Emergency room close to my home and they wanted to do surgery. The lady I was speaking to said ok we will send you to a specialist and we will cover your visit to your own doctor. Well a year later after recovering with only minor permanent damage the WC insurance company offered me a settlement (c&r)and I took it. Well now 5 months after that I get a letter from my hospital saying that they are entitled to reimbursement, and "it is paid from any settlement or judgement proceeds you may receive". Now I would never had agreed to settle if I knew they did not cover those costs like I was told. What recourse do I have?? Am I screwed? The comp court has not issued a formal award yet. But I was sent a partial payment about 1/4th. Has anyone had anything like this happen? Thanks for taking the time to read this, sorry for the length!!!!!

[jayne]

did this without a lawyer? anywhere in your paperwork about all your medical being paid by the IC?

[Manley2]

If there is nothing in your paper work about them paying all the bills you might be screwed. In my wifes case this was in her paper work and 5 years later we had to go to court because the hospital was coming after us because of an unpaid bill. Sounds like in your case it could be they did what allot of WC case want to do and that is settle fast before you find out all the details. I wish I knew the laws out there for you but I would say call a lawyer and see if they can help you. Should say it could be best to call several lawyer so you know you are getting the right info.

[inpainokla]

when i settled in june of this year i was told by the judge when i was signing papers that if i received and bill from this wc deal that i need to give it to my lawyer and my lawer give it to the judge and he would make sure they were paid by the insurance company

[1171]

if you accepted the C&R and it was paid then the court made a formal award.
the hospital is out of luck if they did not file a lien prior to the formal court award.
if you gave the hospital information about the work injury and they failed to act timely you have no obligation.
advise the hospital administrator and the recovery service in writing that the matter must be taken before the comp court (WCAB) and that they should have no further contact with you outside of the comp litigation process.
keep a copy of your written notice