SC--Speegle v. Harris; validity of a hospital lien

The Supreme Court denied the Motion for Rehearing of the Petition for Review in Speegle v. Harris Methodist. The Petition for Review was denied on May 28, 2010. This was a case from the Fort Worth Court of Appeals.

This case stems from treatment provided at Harris Methodist after Mr. Speegle was in auto accident. The hospital's charges were $142,915.01. They filed a hospital lien pursuant to Chapter 55 of the Texas Property Code. Harris Methodist did not bill Medicare for any of its charges. The lien was included in Mr. Speegle's settlement from the auto accident. After receiving the settlement proceeds, Mr. Speegle did not pay the hospital and filed this declaratory action seeking an order that the hospital lien was not valid. The trial court granted summary judgment for the hospital. On appeal, the Fort Worth COA stated:

...under HCFA and CMS regulations, after the 120-day "promptly" period ends, whenever services provided to a Medicare beneficiary are also covered by a liability insurance policy, providers have the right either to bill Medicare or to maintain a lien against a potential liability insurance settlement.

An agency's construction of its own regulations is entitled to substantial deference.We, therefore, defer to the appropriate agency's construction of federal Medicare law granting appellees a federal right to maintain their lien against Speegle's liability insurance settlement in lieu of billing Medicare...

The hospital was allowed to maintain its lien and was not required to first bill Medicare for its service.

COA opinion