claims were dismissed in a judgment on the pleadings, before she had an opportunity to conduct discovery and examine the terms of the agreement between St. Luke’s and her health insurance company. The trial court concluded that because section 430.230 allows St. Luke’s, “without limitation,” to file a lien on claims for personal injury treated at St. Luke’s and caused by third-party tortfeasors, Ms. Morgan could not possibly prevail as a matter of law on any of the claims alleged in her petition. First, however, although this right is not expressly limited within the language of the statute, it is axiomatic that “a lien cannot exist in the absence of [a] debt, the payment of which it secures.” Dean Realty Co. v. City of Kansas Cit .4th 595, 26 Cal. Rptr.3d 569, 109 P.3d 69, 71 (2005) (<HOLDING>); Satsky v. U.S., 993 F.Supp. 1027, 1028-29
holding that where hospital used balance billing its lien was unenforceable because the hospital had been paid in full for the services it provided to patient and there was consequently no debt to secure by the existence of the lien holding that a hospital may not assert a statutory lien in an amount exceeding the amount it agreed to accept from the patients insurer holding that because the contract between the hospital and the health insurance company had a hold harmless provision which stated the hospital would not bill or hold insurance subscribers liable for any hospital expenses covered by the subscribers insurance contract and all expenses from the patients treatment for the automobile accident were covered in such contract there was no debt upon which the hospital could assert a lien pursuant to the states hospital lien statute holding that under nebraskas physicians lien statute a physicians lien could not exceed the amount the health care provider agreed to accept for the services rendered to a patient even if the usual and customary charge for such services is greater than that sum because the statute extends such lien only to the amount due or debt of the patient to the hospital holding that where hospital used balance billing that since the hospital had already received payments from the patient and his health insurer and had agreed to accept that amount as payment in full for its services there was no longer any amount owing to the hospital and thus it could not assert a statutory hospital lien for the difference between its charges and the amount received in light of the negotiated network agreements