Chapter 146 Oregon Laws 1999
Session Law
AN ACT
SB 493
Relating to medical service
liens; creating new provisions; amending ORS 87.555, 87.560, 87.565, 87.570,
87.575 and 87.585; and repealing 87.580.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1.
ORS 87.555 is amended to read:
87.555. (1) Except as otherwise provided by law, whenever any
person receives hospitalization or
medical treatment on account of any injury, and the person, or the personal
representative of the person after the death of the person, claims damages from
the person causing the injury, then
the hospital or any physician licensed under ORS chapter 677 who treats the injured person in the hospital or who provides medical services shall
have a lien upon any sum awarded the injured person or the personal
representative of the person by judgment
or award or obtained by a settlement or compromise to the extent of the
amount due the hospital [or] and the physician for the reasonable
value of such [hospitalization or] medical treatment rendered prior to the
date of judgment, award, settlement
or compromise. However, no such lien shall be valid against anyone coming under
the Workers' Compensation Act.
(2) When the injured
person receiving hospitalization or
medical care from a physician [has a
contract providing for indemnity or compensation for the sum incurred for] is the beneficiary of an insurance policy,
including a policy that provides personal injury protection coverage or similar
no-fault medical insurance but excluding a health insurance policy, that
provides for payment of such hospitalization and medical care, both the hospital [or] and physician shall
have [a lien] liens upon the amount payable under [such contract] the insurance
policy. If a hospital or physician
has properly perfected a lien pursuant to ORS 87.565 (2), the [party] insurer obligated to make [reimbursement
under the contract may] payment
shall pay the sum due [thereunder]
under the insurance policy directly
to the hospital [or] and physician in the amount due each for services rendered, and such payment
shall constitute a [full] release of
the [party] insurer making the payment [under
such contract] to the [amount] extent of the payment.
(3) When there are insufficient funds to satisfy in full the liens
of all hospitals and physicians claiming a lien created by this section, the [hospitals and physicians] insurer making the payment shall
prorate the available [moneys] funds without regard to the [time] sequence of the filing of the notice of lien by the hospitals or [any] physicians, and pay the hospitals or physicians in proportion to the amount due
each for services rendered.
SECTION 2.
ORS 87.560 is amended to read:
87.560. No lien under ORS 87.555 (1) shall be allowed for hospitalization and treatment from a
physician rendered after a settlement has been effected by or on behalf of the
party causing the injury. No lien shall be allowed against any sum for
necessary attorney fees, costs and expenses incurred by the injured party in
securing a settlement, compromise, award
or judgment.
SECTION 3.
ORS 87.565 is amended to read:
87.565. (1) In order
to perfect [the] a lien [described in] under ORS 87.555 (1), [the] a hospital, [or the] an owner or operator [thereof] of a hospital or [any] a physician shall:
[(1)] (a) Not later than [15] 30
days after the discharge of the patient from the hospital, file a notice of
lien substantially in the form prescribed in ORS 87.570, containing a statement
of the amount claimed, with the recording officer of the county wherein such
hospital is located[.]; and
[(2)] (b) Prior to the date of judgment, award, settlement or compromise, serve
a certified copy of the notice of lien by registered [mail] or [by] certified
mail [with return receipt] upon:
[(a)] (A) The person alleged to be
responsible for causing the injury and from whom damages are or may be claimed or to the last-known address of the person; [and] or
[(b)] (B) The insurance carrier [which] that has insured the person alleged to be responsible [against such liability], if such
insurance carrier is known.
[(3) Mail the certified
copy of the notice of lien required to be mailed to a person under subsection
(2)(a) of this section to the last-known address of the person.]
(2) In order to perfect
a lien under ORS 87.555 (2), a hospital, an owner or operator of a hospital or
a physician shall:
(a) Not later than 30 days
after the discharge of the patient from the hospital, file a notice of lien
substantially in the form prescribed in ORS 87.570, containing a statement of
the amount claimed, with the recording officer of the county wherein such
hospital is located; and
(b) Serve a certified copy
of the notice of lien by certified mail upon the insurance company that is
obligated to make payment for hospitalization and medical services.
SECTION 4.
ORS 87.570 is amended to read:
87.570. The form of the notice required by ORS 87.565 shall be
substantially as follows:
___________________________________________________________________
Notice is hereby given that _____ has rendered hospitalization
services or medical treatment for
_____, a person who was injured on the ___ day of _____ in the city of _____,
county of _____, State of _____, on or about the ___ day of _____, and the
_____ (name of claimant) hereby claims a lien upon any money due or owing or
any claim for compensation, damages, contribution, settlement, award or judgment from [_____] any person alleged to have caused said injuries and any other
person liable for the injury or obligated to compensate the injured person on
account of said injuries. The lien
applies to any person or insurer that provides for payment for hospitalization
services or medical treatment rendered to the injured person, including an
insurer that provides personal injury protection coverage or similar no-fault
medical insurance. The hospitalization services
or medical treatment was rendered to
the injured person between the _____ day of _____ and the ___ day of _____;
STATEMENT OF AMOUNT DUE
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
[that 15] Thirty days
have not elapsed since that time.[; that] The claimant's demands for said
[care and service] hospitalization services or medical
treatment is in the sum of $____ and [that]
no part thereof has been paid, except $____, and [that] there is now due and owing and remaining unpaid thereof,
after deducting all credits and offsets the sum of $____, in which amount lien
is hereby claimed.
________________, Claimant.
State of Oregon, )
) ss.
County of _______ )
I, _____, being first duly sworn on oath say: That I am _____
named in the foregoing claim of lien; that I have read the same and know the
contents thereof and believe the same to be true.
________________
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ___ day of _____ in the
year of our Lord _____.
_______________,
Notary Public.
___________________________________________________________________
SECTION 5.
ORS 87.575 is amended to read:
87.575. Each recording officer shall maintain a hospital and
physician lien docket in which, upon the filing of a notice of lien, the
recording officer shall enter the name of the injured person, the approximate
date of the [injury] hospitalization services or medical
treatment, the name and address of the hospital filing the notice and the
amount claimed and the name and address of the physician filing the notice and
the amount claimed.
The recording officer shall
make an index thereto in the names of the injured persons.
SECTION 6. ORS 87.580 is repealed and section 7 of
this 1999 Act is enacted in lieu thereof.
SECTION 7. (1) A person or insurer shall be liable to
a hospital and physician for the reasonable value of hospitalization services
and medical treatment rendered out of the moneys due under any payment, award,
judgment, settlement or compromise, after paying the attorney fees, costs and
expenses incurred in connection therewith, or the proportion of that amount as
determined under ORS 87.555 (3), if the person or insurer:
(a) Has received a notice of
lien that complies with ORS 87.565;
(b) Has not paid the
hospital and physician the reasonable value of hospitalization services and
medical treatment that the hospital and physician rendered; and
(c) Pays moneys to the
injured person, the heirs or personal representative of the injured person, the
attorney for the injured person or for the heirs or personal representative of
the injured person, or a person not claiming a valid lien under ORS 87.555, as
compensation for the injury suffered or as payment for the costs of
hospitalization services or medical treatment incurred by the injured person.
(2) An action arising under
subsection (1) of this section shall be commenced within 180 days after the
date of payment under subsection (1)(c) of this section.
SECTION 8.
ORS 87.585 is amended to read:
87.585. The [lien] liens described in ORS 87.555 may be
foreclosed by a suit in the circuit court. In any suit brought pursuant to the
provisions of ORS 87.580 or this section, upon entering a decree for the plaintiff,
the court shall allow as part of the costs and disbursements all moneys paid
for the filing and recording of the notice of lien, and reasonable attorney
fees at trial and on appeal.
Approved by the Governor May
3, 1999
Filed in the office of
Secretary of State May 3, 1999
Effective date October 23,
1999
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