One of the certain rules in life is that accidents will and do happen.
It is therefore important that people prepare at all times for this possibility.
Unfortunately, despite our best intentions, it is not easy to predict when this might occur.
This is because accidents are sometimes caused as a result of our actions and sometimes they are caused as a result of those of others.
In situations of the latter, most people find that they do not have an immediate solution to the problem.
For example, if a person is injured as a result of the negligent action of some other individual, such an individual will be forced to attend to his injuries before he or she can seek justice.
In such scenarios, injured person can seek the assistance of medical bill liens pending the resolution of his legal case.
Medical Liens are formal agreements in which a doctor agrees to treat a patient in exchange for a promise that said patient will return to pay once his injury claim has come to an end.
The terms of these hospital bill liens might last merely a few weeks or go on for a number of months.
Given the important nature of such agreements most hospitals tend to be cautious when agreeing to one.
The details of a case are therefore often reviewed.
Doctors will be less likely to accept the terms of a lien if the patient appears to have been responsible for his own injuries.
In the event that the person appears to be the injured party, the availability of an actual third party insurance policy has to again be confirmed.
Also, most doctors will only agree to the terms of a lien when the patient has shown proof that he already has enlisted and retained the services of an attorney.
If this is proven to be true, the attorney is often required to act as guarantor that the terms of the lien agreement will be met and payment made.
Many people wrongly conclude that the outcome of a court case affects the decision of payment.
It does not.
Unlike contingency agreements between an attorney and his patient wherein he forfeits his fees in the eventuality of the loss, the outstanding payments of a medical lien must be honored even if the injured persons do go on to lose their case.
The agreement of a liens are an agreed postponement of medical bills and in no way imply that these bills might at some point become unnecessary or cancelled.
One of the many difficulties which hospitals face in granting medical liens is the time span which might ensue between treatment and eventual payments.
Despite their best intentions, not many hospitals are willing or able to wait for months or years before being paid.
An alternate and effective solution to this problem is to enlist the services of secondary financial lien bodies.
Today, many secondary parties have become involved in these agreements.
These bodies purchase the medical liens being carried by hospitals.
Medical liens typically cover accidents caused by dog bites, car crashes, slip and fall cases and those involving defective products.