Who Pays My Medical Bills After an Accident?
You’ve just been seriously injured in a car accident that is not your fault. After this accident, you needed extensive medical treatment for your injuries that included an ambulance trip, an overnight hospital visit, a CT scan, several follow up doctor visits, and several months of physical therapy. This is the point when you start asking the question “how am I going to pay for all of these medical bills”?
The answer to this question is initially you. The other driver’s insurance will not pay your medical provider directly and they will not pay you for every treatment or doctor visit. This doesn’t mean that you will get stuck paying for the bills from an accident that wasn’t your fault. It just simply means that you need to wait until you have finished and received all medical treatments for your injuries and are discharged by your doctors. After this, you can ask the insurance company for a settlement. In the meantime, your health care providers still need to be paid right away for their work. This is where your insurance steps in.
In the meantime, your health care providers still need to be paid right away for their work. This is where your insurance steps in. Car insurance will pay your initial bills up to the limits of coverage. When the car insurance limit is reached, health insurance (public or private) will pay for medical bills. After a lawsuit arises and a settlement comes through, health insurance companies are entitled to reimbursement for what they paid. This will come out of the recovery amount after the lawsuit settles.
Medical Bill Payment Process
- You are injured in an accident due to a negligent driver
- You receive medical treatment
- You submit your medical bills to your insurance company or pay them out of pocket
- You finish all treatment and are discharged by your doctor
- Your attorney negotiates a settlement with the other driver’s insurance company that includes fair compensation for medical bills
- Your attorney notifies your insurance company about the settlement and they negotiate reimbursement amount from your settlement for their payouts
- You keep the rest of the settlement money that doesn’t include attorney fees and case costs
It is important to know that the reimbursement rate will affect the amount of money you get to keep from your settlement. It is also affected by which bills you pay first, which bills you choose to submit to health insurance, and which bills you defer until the end of the lawsuit. This process is complicated and will be something that you discuss at an early stage with your attorney.
Contact an Attorney Today
If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident and wants to know more about the litigation process, contact us at McEwen & Kestner today to talk to an experienced attorney about your legal options or receive a free case evaluation.
Our team is dedicated to making sure our clients are fully compensated for their personal injuries and suffering.
