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?
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.
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:
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.
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.
