Personal injury

As an attorney you have an obligation to honor all statutory and contractual liens, which Medicare and Medicaid are considered to be types of statutory liens. These liens are very difficult to resolve because Medicare and Medicaid offices ususally have only 1-2 people handling the settlement of these types of liens. Your attorney should have contacted their office by certified letter and notified them of the amount that the case was settled for, any other liens pending, his attorney fees, the amount he believes is owed that are directly attributable to the injuries, and whether or not you were compensated fully for your injuries. Normally, upon receipt of the letter the person assigned to your case will review your medical charges and make an offer to settle the case. Your attorney should then be able to negotiate with Medicaid to determine what factors are relevant to reduce the amount they say is due Medicaid. This reductions can include the attorney's compensation for getting the money from the defendant, his cost in obtaining a settlement, years this case has been pending, whether you were compensated totally for your injuries, other liens, lost wages, future medical expenses, degree of injury (i.e. quadrapalegic), etc.