Form AA-1, the Vermont Report of Motor Vehicle Crash, is due to the Vermont DMV within 72 hours if police did not file a report, and your settlement is usually paid in this order: attorney's fee and case costs first, then valid medical reimbursement claims or liens, then you.

The parts that make it more complicated:

• Medicare does not wait quietly. If it paid accident-related bills after a crash on I-89, Route 7, or a Burlington exit ramp, it can demand repayment from the settlement under the Medicare Secondary Payer rules. Medicare issues a final demand amount, and that usually must be resolved before the money is fully distributed.

• Vermont Medicaid can also seek repayment. In Vermont, that usually runs through the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA). Medicaid is limited to recovery tied to the portion of the settlement for medical expenses, not every dollar of pain and suffering.

• VA benefits are a separate system. The VA usually does not operate like a normal health insurer with a routine contract-based subrogation claim against your settlement check. But if the VA paid for treatment related to the crash, the federal government may still pursue recovery connected to that care. That issue often gets handled separately from Medicare or DVHA.

• Private health insurance may ask for reimbursement if your policy allows subrogation or reimbursement. If the plan is a self-funded ERISA plan, its claim can be stronger than a fully insured state-regulated plan.

• Hospitals in Vermont do not generally get an automatic piece of your settlement just because you were treated at UVM Medical Center after a hydroplaning or storm-debris crash. But unpaid bills still matter, and providers can pursue ordinary collection if they are not paid.

• If the crash involved a UPS truck, multiple insurers may fight over who pays first. That does not erase Medicare, Medicaid, or plan reimbursement rights.

• If fault is disputed, every reimbursement claim may be negotiated down because the settlement may reflect only part of the total damages.