laughingpainter
New Member
Hi,
Okay, Last March my lawyers made me settle an injury suit (if you would like to hear about that I would be glad to explain) and paid me a 2/3 of the money. They said they were going to keep the rest to see what charges Medical and Medicare were going to charge to the case.
I was told that Medicare issues can take up to 9 months to come to fruition, so I wasn't really concerned when I didn't receive anything from my lawyer for a few months. About 3 months out I called my lawyer and asked him how the the were doing with getting the information they needed from the insurance companies; they received the amount charged from Medicare but they were still waiting for Medical to send the Conditional Payment Letter in order to find out what the charges were.
I found out On June 23, 2010, after I called Medicare and found the right number for the department that handles the Conditional Payment issues, that my lawyer had not sent the settlement letter or spoken with anyone at Medicare to discover exactly what he needed to give them in order to settle up with them in order to give me the last of the settlement money I am owed. I asked specifically if they had been any communication from any one regarding this case after the settlement other than me.
I asked to be sent a Conditional Payment letter to be sent to myself and my lawyer.
What I was not aware of at that time was that I didn't not even need to ask for a Conditional Payment letter, what was needed was the settlement papers. If my lawyer had actually been in contact, this would have been something that he would have known.
I called my lawyer back and told him what I had found out about this issue and why he had not been in contact with them. He told me that he had and that Medicare was a government bureau and they are notoriously slow. After I requested a Conditional Payment letter, my lawyer sent me a letter requesting the same thing, he also indicated in the letter that he had previously requested the same thing previously. If he had requested it previously I would have been sent a the letter as well.
They had not recorded any letter or phone calls from my lawyer and they would definitely would have followed up
I also asked him why, if he had requested a Conditional Payment letter (which was not ever what he needed and they, Medicare, would have explained that what they needed was the final settlement papers with the Professional letter head, name of the law firm, phone number, and address) he had not followed up if he had not received anything after the 65 day period (something else he would have been aware of if he had actually had a conversation with Medicare.) that it takes for the letter to be processed.
After I became aware, after a few conversations with Medicare, what was really needed was the settlement paper (as described above) to be sent, I asked if they had a fax number that it could be sent to rather than sending it through snail mail. I was given the number. She also told me that because my lawyer would send the settlement papers by fax, there was no reason, now, for me to have the Conditional Payment letter.
When the Conditional Payment letter was received, about 2 or 3 weeks ago, I asked what needed to be done, my lawyer told me that they had to go through each charge and see if they were due to my injury. After waiting a while I asked again what was taking so long. I was told that the process is very complicated and could take a while. I told them that I wanted to see what they deemed as appropriate charges for the injury before they sent it back to Medicare.
I gave them until Wednesday of last week to go through the charges and send me the out come.
I have not received any thing. this is not unusual but judging from how things, I will receive the remainder of the settlement money by next year.
I do not feel that my lawyer is handling my case in a reliable, expedient or proper manner. What can I do?
laughingpainter
ps. I have almost every e-mail that was written to me or I have written to them.
Okay, Last March my lawyers made me settle an injury suit (if you would like to hear about that I would be glad to explain) and paid me a 2/3 of the money. They said they were going to keep the rest to see what charges Medical and Medicare were going to charge to the case.
I was told that Medicare issues can take up to 9 months to come to fruition, so I wasn't really concerned when I didn't receive anything from my lawyer for a few months. About 3 months out I called my lawyer and asked him how the the were doing with getting the information they needed from the insurance companies; they received the amount charged from Medicare but they were still waiting for Medical to send the Conditional Payment Letter in order to find out what the charges were.
I found out On June 23, 2010, after I called Medicare and found the right number for the department that handles the Conditional Payment issues, that my lawyer had not sent the settlement letter or spoken with anyone at Medicare to discover exactly what he needed to give them in order to settle up with them in order to give me the last of the settlement money I am owed. I asked specifically if they had been any communication from any one regarding this case after the settlement other than me.
I asked to be sent a Conditional Payment letter to be sent to myself and my lawyer.
What I was not aware of at that time was that I didn't not even need to ask for a Conditional Payment letter, what was needed was the settlement papers. If my lawyer had actually been in contact, this would have been something that he would have known.
I called my lawyer back and told him what I had found out about this issue and why he had not been in contact with them. He told me that he had and that Medicare was a government bureau and they are notoriously slow. After I requested a Conditional Payment letter, my lawyer sent me a letter requesting the same thing, he also indicated in the letter that he had previously requested the same thing previously. If he had requested it previously I would have been sent a the letter as well.
They had not recorded any letter or phone calls from my lawyer and they would definitely would have followed up
I also asked him why, if he had requested a Conditional Payment letter (which was not ever what he needed and they, Medicare, would have explained that what they needed was the final settlement papers with the Professional letter head, name of the law firm, phone number, and address) he had not followed up if he had not received anything after the 65 day period (something else he would have been aware of if he had actually had a conversation with Medicare.) that it takes for the letter to be processed.
After I became aware, after a few conversations with Medicare, what was really needed was the settlement paper (as described above) to be sent, I asked if they had a fax number that it could be sent to rather than sending it through snail mail. I was given the number. She also told me that because my lawyer would send the settlement papers by fax, there was no reason, now, for me to have the Conditional Payment letter.
When the Conditional Payment letter was received, about 2 or 3 weeks ago, I asked what needed to be done, my lawyer told me that they had to go through each charge and see if they were due to my injury. After waiting a while I asked again what was taking so long. I was told that the process is very complicated and could take a while. I told them that I wanted to see what they deemed as appropriate charges for the injury before they sent it back to Medicare.
I gave them until Wednesday of last week to go through the charges and send me the out come.
I have not received any thing. this is not unusual but judging from how things, I will receive the remainder of the settlement money by next year.
I do not feel that my lawyer is handling my case in a reliable, expedient or proper manner. What can I do?
laughingpainter
ps. I have almost every e-mail that was written to me or I have written to them.
