No-fault insurance medical service providers must be aware and cautious of the status of a patient’s no-fault PIP claim. Particularly, if the patient has filed a lawsuit and the medical provider has elected not to intervene or file its own, joint action. That is because if the patient ultimately settles his/her PIP claim for future care and signs a release, that will forever bar the medical service provider from claiming payment for services for future care. That is exactly what happened to a medical provider who attempted to collect unpaid charges after the patient released future PIP benefits, in Michigan Head & Spine Institute, P.C., v. State Farm Mut Auto Ins Co, ___ Mich ___ (2013), released on February 12, 2013. See opinion here.

Authored by L. Page Graves