The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is entitle to complete reimbursement of Medicare payments under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP) from a liability claim even though the beneficiary claimed that the settlement required allocation due to the law allocating liability.
"We address only one of them here: specifically, under § 1395y(b)(2)(B)(ii) as amended, if a beneficiary makes a “claim against [a] primary plan[,]” and later receives a “payment” from the plan in return for a “release” as to that claim, then the plan is deemed “responsib [le]” for payment of the “items or services included in” the claim. Id. Consequently, the scope of the plan's “responsibility” for the beneficiary's medical expenses—and thus of his own obligation to reimburse Medicare-is ultimately defined by the scope of his own claim against the third party. That is true even if the beneficiary later “compromise[s]” as to the amount owed on the claim, and even if the third party never admits liability. And thus a beneficiary cannot tell a third party that it is responsible for all of his medical expenses, on the one hand, and later tell Medicare that the same party was responsible for only 10% of them, on the other."
Hadden v. U.S., --- F.3d ----, 2011 WL 5828931, C.A.6 (Ky.), 2011. Decided November 21, 2011.
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.
