Typically however the defendant in a car accident case isn’t responsible for your medical bills until after they are found to be at fault and are required to pay a settlement. That’s why having an experienced attorney like The Richard Harris Law Firm can be so helpful in navigating the medical billing process.
Full Answer
Who pays my medical bills after an accident? Short answer is YOU, but then the at-fault driver’s insurance company will reimburse you. If you are injured in a car accident that is not your fault, the other driver (usually through his insurance company) is responsible for your medical bills.
However the other driver’s insurance won’t pay your doctors directly or reimburse you after every doctor visit. And a settlement with the other driver's insurance could take months, or even years, depending on how long your medical treatment takes.
That’s where YOUR insurance steps in. If you have health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid, you should submit your doctor bills to them.
Keep in mind that when you do settle with the other driver’s insurance company, you may need to use a portion of that settlement money to reimburse your health insurance, Medicare, or other people who have treated you and not been paid.
While the at-fault driver’s auto insurance will pay for damage up to the limit of their liability coverage (a limit is just the maximum amount their insurance will pay out), it can take some time for an insurance company to process the information and send out a payment.
How to claim medical expenses after a car accident depends on whether you are in an at-fault state or a no-fault state.
In some instances, drivers may need to hire an attorney when claiming medical expenses after a car accident. If you are facing significant medical bills or the insurance company responsible for your expenses is not acting in good faith, hiring legal assistance might be worth it for you.
If you file a civil lawsuit after a car accident and you’re able to prove that the other party’s negligence caused the accident, they will be ordered to compensate you for your medical expenses. Unfortunately, it can take a significant amount of time to receive any compensation or payments from the responsible party.
If you are covered by health insurance, it’s also possible that your insurance company will pay for some or all of your expenses. If this is the case and you are still awarded compensation from the lawsuit, your insurance company typically has the right to be reimbursed for the money they paid for your hospital bills.
If you were injured due to someone else’s negligence, it’s important to contact an experienced Los Angeles car accident attorney right away. They can help you recover the damages that you are legally entitled to, and they can assist you in receiving the help you need to pay for your medical expenses in the meantime.
If you are injured in a car accident that is not your fault, the other driver (usually through his insurance company) is responsible for your medical bills. However the other driver’s insurance won’t pay your doctors directly or reimburse you after every doctor visit. And a settlement with the other driver's insurance could take months, or even years, depending on how long your medical treatment takes. In the meantime, most doctors and hospitals want to get paid right away and if they don't, they could send you to collections.
If you don't have health insurance, Med Pay coverage, or any other means to pay for necessary medical care after an auto accident injury, Gama Law Firm can get you the treatment you need with medical professionals who will agree to wait for your settlement to get paid.
If you don't have health insurance, Med Pay coverage, or any other means to pay for necessary medical care ...
In the meantime, most doctors and hospitals want to get paid right away and if they don't, they could send you to collections. That’s where YOUR insurance steps in. If you have health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid, you should submit your doctor bills to them.
John submits all of his bills to his health insurance company. The spine injection is the only service that is not covered by his health insurance, but John’s attorney gets that doctor to agree to wait for the settlement to get paid back. After six months of care, John is discharged by his doctors.
Unless it is a car accident involving Med Pay or no-fault states, you are responsible for any accident that occurs and any bills that follow the accident. Car accident victims almost always have this misconception that the negligent party will bear the medical expenses on an ongoing basis, but that is not usually the case.
Many insurance companies offer private insurance, and car accident victims with private insurance or Medicaid can file claims when they receive the medical bills. The insurance company is then responsible for paying for those, but the deductibles and coverage will depend on their insurance policy.
Med Pay coverage is a type of insurance that kicks in after a car accident victim. The insurance pays for medical bills up to the policy limits.
If a car accident victim does not have any form of health insurance, then they are responsible for paying the medical treatment costs from their pocket. Failure to pay medical bills can result in your case getting sent to a debt collector.
No-fault states require drivers to have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) or no-fault insurance covering partial or complete medical bills. Regardless of who is at fault, PIP provides coverage against injuries sustained in a car accident.
Many states in the country offer medical lien protection, which means that medical providers provide medical services in exchange for a lien on the personal injury case verdict. When a personal injury victim does not have enough funds to pay for their treatment costs, the hospital may require them to sign a lien letter.
California is a fault-based state, so an injured person is responsible for paying their medical bills from a car accident. California requires drivers to have auto insurance with a minimum of $30,000 in bodily injury coverage per accident and a $5,000 minimum property damage liability.
Many people assume that the at-fault driver’s insurance company should take care of all of their expenses related to the accident, but liability must first be determined. This means that someone has to determine who the at-fault party is after an auto accident, and therefore which insurance company is liable.
If you have private health insurance, the most important thing to do is make sure your medical bills are submitted to them. Using your health insurance to cover your medical expenses will get them paid immediately.
At the end of the day, medical facilities are businesses that must make money in order to continue their operations. If medical bills are piling up, it can be overwhelming. The last thing you need to have thrown at you is a stack of bills on top of the pain and suffering you are dealing with from an auto wreck that wasn’t even your fault.
The party that caused your accident bears liability for covering your medical bills. If you suffer injuries in an auto accident, contact an experienced car accident lawyer as soon as possible. That car accident attorney can:
To drive legally, Florida drivers must carry personal injury protection insurance that , depending on the coverage the driver selects, will cover the first portion of medical bills and lost wages after an accident, regardless of who causes that accident. Once the driver has used that amount, he or she may file a car accident claim against the driver who caused the accident to receive further compensation for those medical expenses.
Even if you have grounds for a car accident claim after your accident, you should use your medical insurance to help cover your medical expenses.
This is a very important question to ask after a car collision. Some people believe that the other driver’s company will pay all of the bills if another driver causes a collision. This is the wrong way to think about medical bills after a car accident.
Leaving your bills unpaid until you receive your settlement or award can be a dangerous tactic to pursue. Sometimes, cases don’t settle or receive an award for several months or years. If you aren’t paying your bills during that time, your creditors will send these bills to collections.
If you have been an injured vicitim in a car crash, you must hire an attorney. It doesn’t matter whether or not you have a common injury or a more devastating injury. You need an attorney to ensure that you receive what you are entitled to receive.
Not everyone has a health plan, and medical facilities are aware of this. When they know that you have been in a car accident, they may be willing to work out a payment arrangement. Also, some providers are willing to wait until after you receive your settlement to ask for payment.
If you do have private health coverage, you can use it to pay for treatment of a common injury acquired during a car collision. When you are at the hospital or the doctor’s office, ask the staff to submit your bills to your health plan. This will ensure that they are paid immediately.
If you purchased MedPay, you will be able to use it to pay your bills. MedPay is optional coverage that you may have purchased with your liability policy.
MedPay covers your reasonable and necessary bills. These include the following: