Paying Medical Bills After An Accident
If you are in any kind of accident, one of your first questions will be your medical expenses—how will you pay them? It’s bad enough trying to pay your normal life bills, now that you may be out of work for a time as you heal and recover from your injuries. But now you have medical bills, and you need medical attention, because without that medical care, you can’t get back to work. It all sounds like a vicious cycle.
Car Accidents and Insurance
How you pay your medical bills after an accident often depends on what kind of accident that it is. Car accidents may provide some relief, because you have insurance that will provide you some insurance benefits after an accident.
Many car insurance policies have what is known as medical payment coverage, or med pay. Med pay is yours to use to help you with your medical expenses, regardless of fault—it doesn’t matter who was at fault, or even if you were at fault. Med pay will pay certain medical expenses immediately after an accident.
What about the other side if they were responsible for causing your car accident? You can hold them responsible for paying your medical expenses. The problem is that you won’t be able to do that, until and unless there is a settlement or a verdict in your case.
You are always free to use your own health insurance, which will pay your medical expenses after an accident, just as it would for any other medical problem you would have had without an accident.
If you have med pay and health insurance, the med pay will kick in and pay whatever the health insurance does not—such as uncovered expenses, or deductibles.
Other Types of Accidents
Non-car accidents, like falls, have a few less options, since we don’t walk around with our own insurance for falls the way we do with cars and car insurance. With non-car accidents, the best option is usually to use your own health insurance.
Be aware that after a fall or injury on someone’s property, they (or their insurance company) will often offer to pay your medical expenses for you. This can seem like a tempting offer, but avoid it—they are trying to get you to “quick settle” your case, for just the medical expenses, and if you take their offer, you could be forever prohibited from ever collecting any additional damages (such as damages for pain and suffering).
Deferring Repayment
In some cases, with any kind of accident, it may be possible to get medical treatment now, and have your medical provider wait for repayment, or defer your payments, until after your case settles or you go to trial. Sometimes, this can be coordinated through your attorney’s office, on a case by case basis.
You’re not alone after an accident. We can help. Call the Knoxville premises liability lawyers at Fox Farley Willis & Burnette, PLLC, today.
Sources:
wallethub.com/answers/ci/medical-payments-coverage-tennessee-2140762908/
khn.org/news/article/letters-of-protection-personal-injury-cases-surprise-bills/
