Arent Fox’s Jonathon E. Cohn and Jonathan E. Phillips have been published in California Healthcare News, a healthcare trade journal and web site of interest to California healthcare industry professionals.

“Under the current MSP statute, a health care provider settling a lawsuit and paying any part of the settlement itself is now considered a primary payer (along with any no-fault insurer paying all or part of the settlement on behalf of the provider),” Write Jon and Jonathan.  “As such, and because Congress has given CMS a direct right of action to recover from primary payers, there is a real risk that CMS will pursue reimbursement directly from the provider and/or its insurer if the plaintiff fails to promptly reimburse Medicare in full.”

The article, “Solving the MSP Dilemma: A Strategy for Health Care Providers to Avoid Exposure Under the Medicare Secondary Payer Statute,” addresses how the Medicare Secondary Payer rules may affect lawyers involved in medical malpractice cases since the federal agency is taking the position that medical liens must be paid and is threatening to hold defendants and their counsel (not just plaintiffs) liable when they are not.

To read the full article, please click here.