In 2009, while David Patterson was governor of New York, the New York State legislature passed General Obligations Law § 5-335 which protects a plaintiff from certain subrogation liens or claims for reimbursement from health benefit providers who may have paid your underlying medical bills that came about because of the accident.  The upshot is that even though your medical bills may have been paid by your healthcare provider, unless that healthcare provider has a statutory right to be paid back for its expenses, the provider can not assert a claim against your settlement monies.

However, General Obligations Law § 5-335  does not apply to liens or claims to reimbursement where the claim is statutory in nature such as under Medicare, Medicaid, No-Fault, and so-called self-funded ERISA plans.  Claims under ERISA plans are complex and often depend upon the nature and language of these plans.  Similarly, the rights and limitations of "liens" under Medicare and/or Medicaid require special care and can be a "minefield" for the inexperienced and unwary.

Keegan, Keegan, & Strutt, PLLC. has had extensive experience negotiating and litigating the resolution of all of these types of liens as well as experience in enforcing a plaintiff’s right to be free from the improper assertion of a lien or claim for reimbursement under GOL § 5-335.