KOAT recently reported on the amazing ending of a horrible story. The article was about a 14-year-old Albuquerque boy who was released from the hospital four months after he was seriously injured in a New Mexico drunk driving accident. Doctors gave the boy a 20% chance of surviving, however, with the help of his family and his own perseverance, he recently returned home. During his hospitalization he not only had to endure 5 surgeries, but also spent some of the time is a coma.As an Albuquerque accident lawyer, this story brings to light an important issue is many New Mexico injury cases, subrogation. Subrogation is the duty to reimburse health insurance or medical providers for care they provide to an accident victim who later recovers from an automobile insurance company. This “duty” is often times made binding in New Mexico health insurance contracts, or from the medical provider directly.
This is an important aspect of New Mexico car accident cases considering that a client’s recovery is determined by two separate elements: how much the car insurance pays, and how much of that has to be paid back to the health insurance companies. This unique relationship means that even if liability is clear and a car insurance company pays the policy limits, it is just as important to work to reduce the subrogation claim to maximize a client’s recovery.
This is certainly a complex issue, and one that cannot be fully explained in a New Mexico Personal Injury Lawyer Blog entry. However, if nothing else, it is important for victims of serious New Mexico injuries to contact an experienced lawyer who can not only get you the most money possible, but help you keep it.