Nebraska Statutes 52-401. Lien; scope and operation; exception; reduction, when; claim of lien; notice; priority of claims; access to records
(1) Whenever any person employs a physician, nurse, chiropractor, hospital, or provider of emergency medical service to perform professional services of any nature, in the treatment of or in connection with an injury, and such injured person claims damages from the party causing the injury, such physician, nurse, chiropractor, hospital, or provider of emergency medical service, shall have a lien upon any sum awarded the injured person in judgment or obtained by settlement or compromise on the amount due for the usual and customary charges of such physician, nurse, chiropractor, hospital, or provider of emergency medical service applicable at the time services are performed, except that no such lien shall be valid against anyone covered under the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act. For persons covered under private medical insurance or another private health benefit plan, the amount of the lien shall be reduced by the contracted discount or other limitation which would have been applied had the claim been submitted for reimbursement to the medical insurer or administrator of such other health benefit plan. The measure of damages for medical expenses in personal injury claims shall be the private party rate, not the discounted amount.
Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 52-401
- Action: shall include any proceeding in any court of this state. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Attorney: shall mean attorney at law. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Person: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
- Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(2) In order to prosecute such lien, it shall be necessary for such physician, nurse, chiropractor, hospital, or provider of emergency medical service to serve a written notice upon the person or corporation from whom damages are claimed that such physician, nurse, chiropractor, hospital, or provider of emergency medical service claims a lien for such services and stating the amount due and the nature of such services, except that whenever an action is pending in court for the recovery of such damages, it shall be sufficient to file the notice of such lien in the pending action.
(3) A physician, nurse, chiropractor, hospital, or provider of emergency medical service claiming a lien under this section shall not be liable for attorney‘s fees and costs incurred by the injured person in securing the judgment, settlement, or compromise, but the lien of the injured person’s attorney shall have precedence over the lien created by this section.
(4) Upon a written request and with the injured person’s consent, a lienholder shall provide medical records, answers to interrogatories, depositions, or any expert medical testimony related to the recovery of damages within its custody and control at a reasonable charge to the injured person.
(5) For purposes of this section, provider of emergency medical service means a public entity that provides emergency medical service as defined in section 38-1207.
Source
- Laws 1927, c. 162, § 1, p. 425;
- C.S.1929, § 52-401;
- R.S.1943, § 52-401;
- Laws 1986, LB 811, § 138;
- Laws 1995, LB 172, § 1;
- Laws 2008, LB586, § 1;
- Laws 2023, LB157, § 14.
- Operative Date: September 2, 2023