Mercy Hospital & Medical Center v. Farmers Insurance Group of Cos.

Opinion

BROWN, J.

In California, when a hospital provides care for a patient, the hospital has a statutory lien against any judgment, compromise, or settlement received by the patient from a third person responsible for his or her injuries, or the third person’s insurer, if the hospital has notified the third person or insurer of the lien. (Civ. Code,1 §§ 3045.1, 3045.2, 3045.3.) If the hospital is paid at the time the judgment, compromise, or settlement is disbursed, it is entitled to receive as much of its lien as can be satisfied out of 50 percent of *216the recovery. (§§ 3045.2, 3045.4.) The…