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Current as of January 01, 2025 | Updated by Findlaw Staff
(1) The amount of a health-care provider lien must not exceed the charges for services provided to the injured person by the health-care provider at the time of service at a rate equal to the health-care provider's usual and customary billed charge.
(2) A health-care provider or its assignee shall not add a finance charge, as defined in section 5-1-301(20), to the health-care provider's usual and customary billed charges or otherwise increase the amount of a health-care provider's usual and customary billed charge when creating or claiming a health-care provider lien. The injured person is only obligated to pay the health-care provider or its assignee the amount of the health-care provider lien.
(3) A health-care provider who creates, holds, or claims a health-care provider lien under this article 27.5, or an assignee who purchases the health-care provider lien, does not pay or reimburse health-care expenses or services and is not a payer of benefits.
(4) In the absence of fraud or misrepresentation by the injured person:
(a) If the injured person does not receive a judgment, settlement, or payment on the injured person's claim against third parties or under an uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance policy, the injured person is not liable to the holder of a health-care provider lien for any portion of the health-care provider lien;
(b) If the injured person receives a net judgment, settlement, or payment that is less than the full amount of the health-care provider lien, the injured person is not liable to the holder of the health-care provider lien for any amount beyond the net judgment, settlement, or payment, and the holder of the health-care provider lien may not file a complaint or counterclaim against the injured person directly to be reimbursed for any amount beyond the net judgment, settlement, or payment. Nothing in this section prevents a health-care provider or its assignee from initiating a declaratory judgment action or participating in an interpleader action or claim pursuant to the Colorado rules of civil procedure, or any other similar action or claim, to determine the health-care provider's or its assignee's share of the injured person's net judgment, settlement, or payment.
(c) The health-care provider or its assignee shall not assign a health-care provider lien to a collection agency or debt collector.
(5) This section does not deem a holder of a health-care provider lien to be a real party in interest.
(6)(a) A health-care provider or its assignee must comply with the provisions of this section to have a valid health-care provider lien under this article 27.5. If a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a health-care provider or its assignee knowingly failed to comply with the provisions of this section, the injured person may seek a ruling from the court concerning what portions of the health-care provider lien, if any, the health-care provider or its assignee may not recover from the injured person due to a wholly or partially invalid health-care provider lien.
(b) Subsections (3), (4), and (5) of this section continue to apply to a health-care provider lien determined to be wholly or partially invalid under this subsection (6).
Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Colorado Revised Statutes Title 38. Property Real and Personal § 38-27.5-105. Health-care provider lien--limitations - last updated January 01, 2025 | https://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-38-property-real-and-personal/co-rev-st-sect-38-27-5-105/
FindLaw Codes may not reflect the most recent version of the law in your jurisdiction. Please verify the status of the code you are researching with the state legislature before relying on it for your legal needs.
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