Section 29-1404. PERFECTION AND PAYMENT OF LIEN

 

1404.1 The District shall have a lien, perfected in accordance with §1404.3, upon any judgment or settlement awarded or executed in favor of a beneficiary against a third party for that amount of the judgment or settlement that represents the care and treatment it has undertaken to provide or pay for as health-care assistance.

 

1404.2 After a third party deducts a beneficiary’s litigation costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, a third party who is aware that the District might have a claim for reimbursement for health care assistance provided to or paid for on behalf of the beneficiary shall not satisfy the remainder of a judgment or settlement awarded to or executed in favor of the beneficiary without first giving the Corporation Counsel both written notice of the judgment or settlement and thirty (30) calendar days from the date the written notice is received by the Corporation Counsel to determine the appropriateness of a lien, and if appropriate, to perfect the lien.

 

1404.3 To perfect a lien under the Health-Care Assistance Reimbursement Act of 1984, D.C. Law 5-86, the Corporation Counsel shall do the following:

 

(a) File in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, in a docket provided for this type of lien, a written notice containing the beneficiary’s name and address, the approximate date and location of the incident that caused or allegedly caused the beneficiary’s injury or illness, and the name of the third party; and

 

(b) Provide by personal service or certified mail a copy of the written notice of lien, together with a statement of the date of filing to the beneficiary directly or in care of the beneficiary’s attorney, if any, the third party, directly or in care of the third party’s attorney, if an and, if ascertained by the Corporation Counsel, the insurance company which has insured the beneficiary or third party against liability.

 

1404.4 If, after receiving a notice of lien under §1404.3, a beneficiary, third party, or an insurer disposes of funds covered by a lien without paying the District the amount of its lien that could have been satisfied from those funds after paying off any prior liens, the Corporation Counsel may, on behalf of the District, institute a civil action against that beneficiary, third party, or insurer, within one (1) year from the date that the funds were improperly disposed of, to recover any amount the District is otherwise unable to recover because of the improper disposition of funds.

 

1404.5 If the beneficiary prosecutes a claim in a proceeding or conducts settlement negotiations on behalf of the District and incurs a personal liability for litigation costs or attorney’s fees, the Corporation Counsel shall determine in good faith what, if any, contribution to those costs and fees would be appropriate, and that contribution, if any, shall be subtracted from the amount of the lien.

 

1404.6 If payment of the lien does not fully reimburse the District for the cost of the health-care assistance provided to or paid for on behalf of a beneficiary, the District may recover the outstanding balance by continuing to prosecute an existing proceeding or by instituting a separate proceeding against the third party.

 

 

source

Final Rulemaking published at 33 DCR 1320 (March 7, 1986).