Insurance
Subrogation
Subrogation is a health insurer's right to be reimbursed from a claimant's settlement for medical costs it paid in connection with the injury.
Your own health insurance paying your bills does not mean those costs disappear. The insurer generally has a right to recover them out of the settlement.
Subrogation claims are frequently reduced, and federal programs have their own formulas that can limit what they recover.
Medicare and Medicaid have statutory recovery rights that cannot be ignored without serious consequences.
Related terms
- Lien — A lien is a legal claim on settlement proceeds that must be satisfied out of the recovery before the claimant receives their share.
- Medical lien — A medical lien is a healthcare provider's claim on a settlement for treatment given on credit while the case was pending, repaid from the recovery before the claimant's share.
- Disbursement — Disbursement is the payment of settlement funds out of an attorney's trust account, following the order of attorney fees and costs, then liens, then the claimant's remaining share.
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