How Medical Bills are Paid for After a Car Accident?
When a person is injured in a car accident, the medical bills can quickly pile up, and the difficulty associated with paying those bills can be financially devastating. That’s why it is important to understand who is responsible for paying your medical bills after a car accident.
Who Pays Your Medical Bills in a Car Accident, if You are At Fault?
Whether you are a victim or another motorist is injured, if you are at fault, you are financially obliged to pay the victim’s medical and auto repair bills. Your car insurance company will investigate to determine the level at which you were at fault, as well as any potential settlement claims.
You have the opportunity before an accident to determine what type of coverage to get and how much liability coverage to opt for. The greater the liability coverage you have, the greater your insurance payments may be. However, more liability coverage can keep you from having to pay out of pocket when you are at fault in a car accident.
Who Pays My Medical Bills If I am the Victim and Not at Fault?
The short answer is that YOU will be responsible for medical bills after a car accident. However, the negligent driver’s insurance provider will repay you. The other driver’s insurance won’t pay your medical professionals directly or repay you after every doctor visit. Instead, after you have finished all medical treatments and have been released/cleared by your physicians, you can then request a settlement with the insurance provider. Depending upon your injuries, it could take months, and even years, before you get released by your physicians. In the meantime, a lot of physicians need to make money right away, or they will send your medical bills to collections.
Shortly after an accident, you must contact your own insurers to report the accident – both auto & health insurance providers. You will also be required to contact the other driver’s insurance company as soon as possible to initiate the claims process. An investigation must be completed before you can begin collecting payment from the other driver or their insurance company.
If you have “Medical Payment” protection (“Med Pay”) under your own car insurance policy, Med Pay pays your doctors and reimburses you for co-pays and deductibles you may be charged while seeking treatment.
If you are uninsured and do not have the money to spend on healthcare after a car accident injury, law firm can refer you to medical specialists. They will treat you now but delay their costs up until you settle with the negligent driver’s insurance provider. Your lawyer can likewise help keep those bills you’ve currently received out of collections.
If you settle with the other driver’s insurance company, you may be required to utilize part of that settlement to reimburse your health insurance, Medicare, or any physicians who gave you medical treatment on the condition that they would get repaid out of your settlement.
Depending upon the reimbursement rate and right to be repaid, the amount of your settlement can be substantially impacted by which expenses you pay initially, which expenses you submit to health insurance or Med Pay, and which costs can be postponed until settlement. This involves a strategy that you should discuss early on with your lawyer.
When you are the victim, and the at-fault driver is underinsured or uninsured:
Even when a driver does not have sufficient insurance, they are responsible for paying all accident-related medical bills. Unfortunately, receiving payments from an uninsured or underinsured driver is timely and difficult. To avoid this kind of problem before it occurs, it is recommended that drivers acquire uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. This type of policy will guarantee that your provider will help pay for your injuries when you are hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist. Every situation is unique, and coordinating your medical bills and payments involves strategy, knowing how the system works, and your state laws. Call your lawyer and discuss your situation for free.
