Being without health insurance can leave people in very difficult financial situations. To address this issue, the New Hampshire legislature adopted a statute which requires all hospitals to bill self-pay patients an amount no greater than the amount generally billed and received by the hospitals for services rendered to patients covered by health insurance. This provides a measure of relief to persons not covered by health insurance and eases the financial burden of health care costs. Unfortunately, the statute does not apply to medical providers outside of a hospital, such as most primary care physicians, physical therapy and counseling provided outside of the hospital setting.
This statute provides a great measure of relief to victims of negligence. If a person who does not have health insurance is injured due to an automobile accident, motorcycle accident, pedestrian accident, a slip and fill, trip and fall, dog bite or any other form of injury due to negligence, this statute offers relief to the uninsured victim as the statute reduces the amount that he or she needs to reimburse the hospital thereby resulting in more money in his or her pocket.
If you have any questions regarding a personal injury claim and the benefit of the above statute, please contact an attorney at Hamblett & Kerrigan for a free consultation.
Kevin P. Rauseo is a former director at Hamblett & Kerrigan P.A. and has since been appointed as a Justice for the New Hampshire Circuit Court. Please feel free to contact another attorney at Hamblett & Kerrigan to discuss your legal issues.