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47 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 827 (2019-2020)
"Disingenuous and Somewhat Deplorable" A Look at Hospitals' Use of Healthcare-Provider Liens to Reap a Windfall

handle is hein.journals/flsulr47 and id is 867 raw text is: DISINGENUOUS AND SOMEWHAT DEPLORABLE A LOOK AT HOSPITALS' USE OF HEALTHCARE- PROVIDER LIENS TO REAP A WINDFALL BRYCE TALBOT* AND WILLIAM SJOSTROM** I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 828 II. HEALTHCARE COSTS AND INSURANCE - THE BASICS .......... 831 III. HOSPITAL LIEN STATUTES ................................................... 835 A. What Different States Have Done................................. 836 B. Federal Medicare Preemption....................................... 839 IV. PATIENTS' OPTIONS TO FIGHT HOSPITAL LIENS .................. 839 A. The Underlying Contracts ............................................ 840 B. Breach of the Hospital-Insurer Contract ...................... 841 1. Breach of Payment-in-Full Provisions ................... 841 2. Reserving Provisions Only Work if the Victim Could Assign His or Her Personal Injury Claim............................................................ 842 3. When the Hospital Never Submits the Charges to the Insurer ............................................ 845 C. The Hospital Lien Statute May Not Apply................... 846 1. If the Hospital Accepted the Negotiated Payment, There Is No Underlying Debt ................. 846 2. The Full Chargemaster Amount May Not Be Reasonable or Customary ................................. 848 D. Validity and Enforceability of the Contract ................. 850 1. Misrepresentations .................................................. 850 2. Illusory Promises .................................................... 851 3. Unenforceable as Against Public Policy................. 852 (a) Public Policy Expressed in Hospital Lien Statutes ..................................................... 853 (b) Public Policy Expressed in Other Personal-Injury-Debt Statutes.......................... 854 E. Other Arguments Warranting Further Inquiry ........... 858 V. AVENUES FOR PATIENT RECOVERY OF DAMAGES ................ 859 VI. IMPLEMENTING THE BEST PUBLIC POLICY .......................... 861 VII. CONCLUSION ........................................................................ 865 * Bryce Talbot is a 2019 graduate of the James E. Rogers College of Law, The Uni- versity of Arizona, and a member of the State Bar of Arizona. Bryce Talbot would like to thank his wife, Alex, for her unending support. ** William Sjostrom is a professor of law, James E. Rogers College of Law, The Uni- versity of Arizona. He would like to thank his wife, Nancy, for her unending support. The aftermath of her 2017 car accident (she's fine) was the impetus for this article.

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