Who is Paratus Partners LLC?

If you were involved in a car accident and received medical treatment at a hospital, you might have received a letter from “Paratus Partners, LLC.” If you did, it might have requested information from you and included language similar this:

“Dear _________,
We manage accident claims for [hospital]. You may have been involved in an accident and we believe you would like to help us with information about other insurance that may be available to pay your hospital bill. When you were treated for your injuries, you gave the hospital permission to file claims to the insurance companies that may help pay your hospital bill…”

Depending on your injuries and the services you received at the hospital, the medical charges might be expensive. Seeing the charges for your medical services along with the letter from Paratus Partners might be scary.

So, who is Paratus Partners, LLC? Why would they be contacting you? And what should you do after receiving a letter from Paratus?

Who is Paratus Partners, LLC and What Do They Do?

In California, Paratus Partners, LLC is located at 3060 Saturn Street, Suite 200, Brea, CA 92821. However, they also have other locations in Idaho, Illinois, and Washington. If you received a letter from Paratus, it most likely lists their Idaho address: P.O. Box 239, Meridian, ID 83680.

Paratus Partners, LLC contracts with hospitals to seek payment for the hospital when a patient is involved in a personal injury accident, such as a car accident or a motorcycle accident.
Typically, when you go to the hospital and have health insurance, the bill will be processed through your health insurance. In that case, your health insurance will pay their portion of the bill, and based on your health insurance, you might have to pay a co-pay or deductible.

However, hospitals sometimes bill people involved in car accidents differently than other patients. If your medical treatment was the result of an injury caused by another person (i.e. a car accident that was not your fault), and you receive a personal injury settlement for your injuries, hospitals and medical providers may seek to be reimbursed for their medical bills out of the money you receive from your personal injury settlement. Instead of billing your health insurance, the hospital may assert what is called a hospital lien on the personal injury settlement to try to get paid as much as possible for the medical treatment.

It is particularly common for hospitals to assert hospital liens when the patient involved in a car accident is insured by a governmental health plan like Medi-Cal or Medicare. These government sponsored health plans benefit from contracts that allow them to pay discounted rates for medical treatment. As a result, hospitals would prefer not billing them if they think they may be able to get paid more by asserting a lien on a patient’s personal injury case instead.

In California, the Hospital Lien Act allows hospitals to assert a lien on a personal injury case if the patient received treatment as a result of a personal injury accident for which another person or entity was responsible.

"Every person, partnership, association, corporation, public entity, or other institution or body maintaining a hospital licensed under the laws of this state which furnishes emergency and ongoing medical or other services to any person injured by reason of an accident or negligent or other wrongful act… shall, if the person has a claim against another for damages on account of his or her injuries, have a lien upon the damages recovered, or to be recovered, by the person... to the extent of the amount of the reasonable and necessary charges of the hospital and any hospital affiliated health facility… in which services are provided for the treatment, care, and maintenance of the person in the hospital or health facility affiliated with the hospital resulting from that accident or negligent or other wrongful act.” (Cal. Civ. Code, § 3045.1)."

The Hospital Lien Act, as well as other statutes, case law, and policies will impact whether a hospital lien can be asserted in a particular case, as well as how much the hospital is entitled to be paid. Navigating the process can be complicated and stressful considering that hospital bills are often thousands, if not tens or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars.

Companies like Paratus are experienced in this area and seek to recover the most money possible for their hospital and medical provider clients. Their focus is the best interest of the hospital, which may not also be what is in the best interest of the patient.

What medical providers does Paratus Partners, LLC work with?

Paratus Partners, LLC contracts with many hospitals and medical providers in California including medical providers in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and in the Inland Empire. While not a comprehensive list, Paratus will often contract with Providence hospitals like:

Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, CA
Providence Little Company of Mary of Torrance
Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital
Providence St. Johns Medical Center in Santa Monica, CA
Providence St. Joseph Hospital Orange
Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley, CA

If you were involved in an accident and received treatment at any of these hospitals, there is a good chance that you will receive a letter from Paratus Partners, LLC. Paratus is a large company that contracts with many providers, so patients of other hospitals and medical providers may receive a letter from Paratus after a car crash as well.

What are the next steps after Paratus contacts you?

If you have been involved in a personal injury incident, like a car accident, and received a letter or phone call from Paratus Partners, LLC, you should consider consulting with a personal injury attorney experienced in dealing with Paratus before responding.

Paratus may ask you to provide information or to sign documents that can potentially allow them to share your private medical information with others. This has the potential to cost you thousands of dollars, if not more, if the hospital is paid more for your medical treatment than it has to be.

If you receive a letter from Paratus, it is important to contact an experienced California personal injury attorney to help you determine the best way of handling it. At Patzkowski Law Corporation, we provide free phone consultations to people who have received a letter from Paratus Partners.

Those who have received a letter from Paratus can reach us at (949) 342-5120.

Rather than attempting to deal with Paratus Partners, LLC yourself, which can be high risk especially if you incurred a high medical bill after a car accident, an experienced car accident attorney may be able to assist you. An attorney can seek to have your hospital bill paid by your health insurance, negotiate a reduction in the bill, or in some cases may even be successful in getting the bill written off or waived.

Attorney Blaise Patzkowski has helped many people deal with Paratus after an accident. He has practiced personal injury law for over a decade and represents people across the state of California, including Orange County, Los Angeles County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County, and more. Mr. Patzkowski provides free consultations for people who are contacted by Paratus or other medical provider reimbursement companies after a car accident. He can be reached at (949) 342-5120.

Is It Legal to Ride Your Bike on the Sidewalk in Irvine, CA?

Irvine might be the most bicycle-friendly city in Orange County, California.

I lived in Irvine for more than two years, and one of the big benefits of the master-planned community is that it was designed with an eye toward bicycle safety and bike-ability. According to the City of Irvine, there are over 286 lane miles of on-street bikeways and more than 113 miles of off-street bikeways in Irvine. For a city that is 66 square miles in size, 399 miles of bike routes is rather impressive.

But even a safety-focused personal injury attorney like me who sticks to designated bike paths as much as possible will in some locations in Irvine find no bike path to ride on. If your bike ride starts from your house, you may have to ride a mile or two to get onto the nearest bike path.

And after a cyclist gets onto a bike path, the network of bike paths in Irvine is not fully built out and interconnected. For example, the San Diego Creek Trail does not directly connect with the Shady Canyon Trail Bikeway. This forces bicyclists to either ride on nine-lane Sand Canyon over the 405 Freeway, or detour onto the Freeway Trail which takes you a mile or two in the wrong direction.

Since bicyclists cannot ride entirely on designated bike paths in Irvine, this raises the question of whether it is legal for bicyclists in Irvine to ride their bike on the sidewalk. As a cyclist, riding on the sidewalk makes the risk of a car accident lower than riding in the street, with a curb and a few extra feet separating your bike from cars driving 50+ miles per hour down Barranca Parkway.

Bicyclists in Irvine, CA Can Legally Ride their Bike on the Sidewalk (Most of the Time)

For the most part, it is legal to ride a bike on the sidewalk in Irvine, California.

The Irvine Municipal Code section 4-7-210 "Riding on sidewalks, playgrounds, etc." states:

A. Riding of bicycles on any sidewalk or roadway is permitted unless prohibited by appropriate signs authorized pursuant to the terms of this division.
B. Whenever any person is riding a bicycle upon a sidewalk, such person shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing pedestrians.
C. No person shall ride or operate a bicycle upon any playground, park or school ground not designated as a bicycle path or route, where children are playing, without first having secured the permission of the persons having supervision of the playground, park or school ground.

When biking in Irvine, watch out for signs prohibiting riding on the sidewalk. If there aren't any, it is legal to bike on the sidewalk. Of course, you will need to yield to pedestrians on the sidewalk. Also, you cannot ride your bicycle at a playground, park, or school where children are playing without permission from a playground supervisor.

When Riding a Bike in the Road

The City of Irvine has a different set of rules for when a bicyclist is riding their bike in the road. Irvine Municipal Code section 4-7-208 "Leaving bicycle lane" provides:

A. Whenever a bicycle lane has been established, any person operating a bicycle upon the roadway at a speed of less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction shall ride within the bicycle lane, except that such person may move out of the lane under any of the following situations:

When overtaking and passing another bicycle, vehicle, or pedestrian within the lane or about to enter the lane if such overtaking and passing cannot be done safely within the lane.
When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
When reasonably necessary to leave the bicycle lane to avoid debris or other hazardous conditions.
When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.

B. No person operating a bicycle within a bicycle lane shall leave such lane until movement can be made with reasonable safety, and then only after giving the appropriate signal in the manner provided in Vehicle Code div. 11, ch. 6 (Vehicle Code § 22100 et seq.) in the event that any vehicle may be affected by the movement.

In short, if you're riding your bike on the road and there is a bicycle lane, you need to use it. There are exceptions for passing, making left turns, avoiding dangerous roadway conditions, and at right turns.

Knowing the law is harder for bicyclists than drivers because each city has its own municipal regulations regarding bicycling, while the California Vehicle Code regulates driving uniformly up and down the state. Being familiar with local bike laws can not only help you avoid getting a ticket, it can reduce your risk of being hit by a car and needing an Orange County personal injury lawyer like me.

Costa Mesa bike accident lawyer Blaise Patzkowski is a cyclist and advocate for the rights of injured bicyclists and pedestrians in Southern California. If you or a family member was injured in a bicycle or pedestrian accident, please contact Mr. Patzkowski for a free consultation.

Disclaimer: The information here is general information that should not be taken as legal advice. It cannot be guaranteed to be accurate, current or complete. No attorney-client relationship is established between you and our law firm by reading this article. This article should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a lawyer about the specific facts of your case.

Can I ride my bike on the sidewalk in Costa Mesa, CA?

California allows each city to make its own rules about bicycle riding on the sidewalk, so riding on the sidewalk could be legal when you're on one side of the street and illegal after you've crossed the street and are in a different city. This makes it difficult to know where you can legally bike on the sidewalk.

Riding your bike only where it's legal can significantly reduce the risk of getting hit by a car (and getting a ticket), so it's important to know the law before clipping in.

This article looks at the city where I live and cycle most often:

Costa Mesa, California

Costa Mesa has a population of more than 100,000 people, is over 15 square miles in size, and has three freeways running through it (the 55 Freeway, the 405 Freeway, and the 73). Because of its concentration of jobs and proximity to the beach, bicycle riding is an increasingly popular way of getting around in Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa Ordinance 4-26 sets out the "Rules of the Road" for bike riding in the city. Its goal is to keep bicyclists safe and reduce the risk of bike accidents and injuries. However, even a careful bike rider who pulls up the Municipal Code before hopping on their bike may have a challenging time figuring out whether or not they can legally ride their bike on the sidewalk in Costa Mesa because of how the ordinance is written.

As to riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in Costa Mesa, Ordinance 4-26 states:

(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 10-134 of the Costa Mesa Municipal Code, whenever a person is riding a bicycle upon a sidewalk, such person shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian, bicyclist or vehicle exiting or entering any driveway or alley.

So we have to start with Costa Mesa Municipal Code section 10-134. This Code section requires vehicles exiting an alley, driveway or building to stop prior to driving onto a sidewalk.

So...can I ride my bike on the sidewalk?

The short answer is yes. It would be nice if the law came out and said it a little more clearly, but you can legally ride your bike on the sidewalk in Costa Mesa.

Section (e) talks about what a person riding their bike on the sidewalk must do (yield to others entering and exiting driveways and alleys). So, the city governs how a person can ride their bike on the sidewalk and does not prohibit it. You can legally ride your bike on the sidewalk in Costa Mesa, so long as you yield to others at driveways and alleys. That's good news for people like me, who feel safer riding their bike on the sidewalk on some bigger streets in Costa Mesa with fast moving traffic, like Bristol Street, Harbor Boulevard, and Victoria Street.

Although riding your bike on the sidewalk is not prohibited in Costa Mesa, there are more than 43 miles of bike paths throughout the city, so using these paths may reduce the risk of a bike accident in locations where they exist.

Attorney Blaise Patzkowski is a cyclist and advocate for the rights of injured bicyclists in Southern California. If you or your family member was hurt in a bicycle accident, please contact us to speak with Mr. Patzkowski.