Managed Hospital Acquisition, LLC | Crash course: Injured patients who sign ‘letters of protection’ may face huge medical bills and risks
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21 Dec Crash course: Injured patients who sign ‘letters of protection’ may face huge medical bills and risks

Posted at 15:05h in Uncategorized by

By: Fred Schulte
Source: Kaiser Health News

Jean Louis-Charles couldn’t afford spine surgery to ease nagging neck and back pain after a car crash. So he signed a document, promising to pay the bill with money he hoped to get from a lawsuit against the driver who caused the collision.

That never happened.

Louis-Charles, 68, died hours after the operation at a South Florida outpatient surgery center in March 2019. The surgery center had put him in an Uber with his wife, Marie Julien, according to depositions. After a 60-mile ride home, he collapsed, court records show.

Her husband’s death left Julien to deal with more than $100,000 in medical debt, as described in the “letter of protection,” or LOP, that Louis-Charles had signed.

In signing an LOP, people generally pledge to cover the costs of their care even if it exceeds what they win in a lawsuit or other settlement — and even if the prices are far higher than most doctors would charge.

The agreements are legal and binding in many states, though Florida appears to be the epicenter of their use in personal injury cases. Advocates say the letters throw a lifeline to low-income people who need vital medical care for injuries caused by the negligence of others and don’t have the money or insurance coverage to pay for it. Doctors and surgery centers that accept LOPs say they often wait years for a lawsuit to settle before being paid, if at all.

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