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2017 SESSION

17100353D
SENATE BILL NO. 914
Offered January 11, 2017
Prefiled December 27, 2016
A BILL to amend and reenact § 8.01-66.9 of the Code of Virginia, relating to reduction of amount of lien for medical services paid for by the Commonwealth.
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Patron-- Edwards
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 8.01-66.9 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 8.01-66.9. Lien in favor of Commonwealth, its programs, institutions or departments on claim for personal injuries.

Whenever any person sustains personal injuries and receives treatment in any hospital, public or private, or nursing home, or receives medical attention or treatment from any physician, or receives nursing services or care from any registered nurse in this the Commonwealth, or receives pharmaceutical goods or any type of medical or rehabilitative device, apparatus, or treatment which is paid for pursuant to the Virginia Medical Assistance Program, the State/Local Hospitalization Program and other programs of the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Maternal and Child Health Program, or the Children's Specialty Services Program, or provided at or paid for by any hospital or rehabilitation center operated by the Commonwealth, the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, or any state institution of higher education, the Commonwealth shall have a lien for the total amount paid pursuant to such program, and the Commonwealth or such Department or institution shall have a lien for the total amount due for the services, equipment, or devices provided at or paid for by such hospital or center operated by the Commonwealth or such Department or institution, or any portion thereof compromised pursuant to the authority granted under § 2.2-514, on the claim of such injured person or of his personal representative against the person, firm, or corporation who that is alleged to have caused such injuries.

The Commonwealth or such Department or institution shall also have a lien on the claim of the injured person or his personal representative for any funds which that may be due him from insurance moneys received for such medical services under the injured party's own insurance coverage or through an uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance coverage endorsement. The lien granted to the Commonwealth for the total amounts paid pursuant to the Virginia Medical Assistance Program, the State/Local Hospitalization Program and other programs of the Department of Medical Assistance Services, the Maternal and Child Health Program, or the Children's Specialty Services Program shall have priority over the lien for the amounts due for services, equipment, or devices provided at a hospital or center operated by the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth's or such Department's or institution's lien shall be inferior to any lien for payment of reasonable attorney's attorney fees and costs, but shall be superior to all other liens created by the provisions of this chapter and otherwise. Expenses for reasonable legal fees and costs shall be deducted from the total amount recovered. The amount of the lien may be compromised pursuant to § 2.2-514.

The court in which a suit by an injured person or his personal representative has been filed against the person, firm, or corporation alleged to have caused such injuries or in which such suit may properly be filed, may, upon motion or petition by the injured person, his personal representative, or his attorney, and after written notice is given to all those holding liens attaching to the recovery, reduce the amount of the liens and apportion the recovery, whether by verdict or negotiated settlement, between the plaintiff, the plaintiff's attorney, and the Commonwealth or such Department or institution as the equities of the case may appear, provided that the injured person, his personal representative, or his attorney has made a good faith effort to negotiate a compromise pursuant to § 2.2-514. The court shall set forth the basis for any such reduction in a written order.

If the lien is compromised pursuant to § 2.2-514, it shall be reduced by an amount proportionate to the amount that any costs, expenses, and attorney fees incurred by the injured person or his personal representative bear to the total recovery obtained from the allegedly responsible third party. Such reduction is in addition to any other basis for compromise that may exist in a particular case.