If you got hurt because of medical malpractice and your medical bills were paid by a third party (like your health insurance company, Medicare, or Medicaid) you will have to pay them back out of your malpractice settlement. They have what is called a “subrogation lien” on your potential recovery, and it can actually be a crime if you don’t pay them back. If some of the bills for your treatment remain unpaid, you may also have to pay those outstanding medical bills out of your recovery too, because the health care providers who treated you will also have a subrogation claim against your recovery. You only have to pay back for the extra medical treatment you had resulting from the malpractice, and you don’t have to pay back anything for any of your medical care not directly caused by the malpractice. Your lawyer can help you identify those potential subrogation claims and negotiate for reductions in the amount you have to pay, sometimes avoiding the subrogation pay-back completely and often obtaining major reductions. This is one of the important reasons why you need a lawyer even if you have a chance to settle your case out of court.