(a) Any hospital which is exempt from taxation under the provisions of section 12-81, any ambulance owner, operator, association, partnership or corporation, or any hospital owned and operated by a municipality or the state, which furnished medical or other service or materials to any patient injured by reason of any accident not covered by the Workers' Compensation Act has a lien on the proceeds of any accident and liability insurance policy issued by any company authorized to do business in this state, which proceeds may be due such patient, either directly or indirectly, to the extent of the actual cost of such service and materials, provided such hospital or ambulance owner, operator, association, partnership or corporation, or, in the case of the state, the Department of Administrative Services, after the commencement of rendering of such service or providing of such materials and before payment by the insurance company, serves written notice upon the insurance company by registered or certified mail at its principal home office or any branch office, if the company issuing the policy is located within this state, and upon the Insurance Commissioner of this state by registered or certified mail, if the insurance company is located without the state. The notice shall be in duplicate and shall contain the name of the injured person, if known, the name of the company or companies issuing the policy and the amount expended and an estimate of the amount to be expended in the services rendered to or the materials provided for the patient.

(b) Whenever the liability of the company or companies, either directly or indirectly, to the patient has been fixed, the insurance company shall pay directly to the hospital or ambulance owner, operator, association, partnership or corporation, or, in the case of the state, to the Department of Administrative Services, the amount due it, provided the amount shall be agreed upon by all of the parties interested. A receipt by the hospital or ambulance owner, operator, association, partnership, corporation or division is evidence of payment of such amount by such company or companies on account of their liability to the insured.

(c) If the interested parties do not agree concerning the amount due the hospital or ambulance owner, operator, association, partnership, corporation or division, either party may bring an action of interpleader in the judicial district in which the hospital or ambulance owner, operator, association, partnership or corporation involved is located or, in the case of the state, in the judicial district of Hartford.

(d) When an insurance company located outside the state is a defendant, service of process may be made on the Insurance Commissioner of this state, as set forth in section 38a-25. When any such defendant is a nonresident person who has been a patient in any hospital in this state or has used the services of such ambulance owner, operator, association, partnership or corporation, that person shall be conclusively presumed, by virtue of his admission as a patient in the hospital or use of the services of the ambulance owner, operator, association, partnership or corporation, to have appointed the Secretary of the State as his agent for service of process in any action of interpleader under the provisions of this section, arising out of his treatment as such patient or because of such service, and for no other purpose. Service shall be made by delivering to and leaving with the secretary or some person designated by him to receive the process in his office two copies thereof and by paying to him the sum of five dollars. The secretary shall forthwith send by registered or certified mail one of the copies of the process to the defendant at his last-known address and shall keep a record of all process so served on him.

(1949 Rev., S. 7252; 1953, 1955, S. 2978d; 1959, P.A. 356, S. 1; 457; 1969, P.A. 49; 561, S. 11; P.A. 77-614, S. 71, 610; P.A. 78-280, S. 2, 6, 127; P.A. 79-376, S. 69; 79-602, S. 124; P.A. 85-35; P.A. 88-230, S. 1, 12; P.A. 90-98, S. 1, 2; 90-243, S. 175; P.A. 93-142, S. 4, 7, 8; P.A. 95-220, S. 4–6.)

History: 1959 acts increased fee paid to secretary of the state for service of process from $2 to $5 and applied provisions to “any ambulance owner, operator, association, partnership or corporation”; 1969 acts specified that division of central collections of finance and control department is agent for state and specified that actions involving the state are to be brought before court in Hartford county and substituted reference to Sec. 38-265 for reference to Sec. 38-23; P.A. 77-614 replaced central collections division of finance and control department with department of administrative services; P.A. 78-280 replaced general reference to counties with reference to judicial districts and specific reference to Hartford county with reference to judicial district of Hartford-New Britain; P.A. 79-376 substituted “workers' compensation” for “workmen's compensation”; P.A. 79-602 divided section into Subsecs. and rephrased provisions but made no substantive changes; P.A. 85-35 amended Subsec. (a) to require that written notice be served upon the insurance company by registered or certified mail, and to permit such notice to be sent to any branch office of the company; P.A. 88-230 replaced “judicial district of Hartford-New Britain” with “judicial district of Hartford”, effective September 1, 1991; P.A. 90-98 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1991, to September 1, 1993; P.A. 90-243 made technical changes for statutory consistency; P.A. 93-142 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1993, to September 1, 1996, effective June 14, 1993; P.A. 95-220 changed the effective date of P.A. 88-230 from September 1, 1996, to September 1, 1998, effective July 1, 1995.

Cited. 37 CS 596.