You, but then the party at fault’s 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. Instead, you will need to wait until after you have finished all medical treatments and have been discharged by your doctors before asking for a settlement with the insurance company. Depending on your injuries, it could take several months, or even years, before you reach “maximum medical improvement” and get discharged by your doctors. In the meantime, most doctors need to get paid right away or they will send you to collections.
Coordinating Medical Payments
That’s where other insurance steps in. If you have health insurance or Medicare, you can submit your doctor bills to them. Even better is if you have “Medical Payment” coverage (“Med Pay” for short) under your own car insurance policy. Med Pay will pay your doctors and even reimburse you for health insurance co-pays and deductibles if you choose to your health insurance too.
If you don’t have car insurance or any means to pay your medical care after an auto accident injury, Malman Law Firm can you in touch with medical professionals who will treat you “on a lien” now but defer their bills until you settle with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. Malman Law Firm can also help keep those bills you’ve already received out of collections.
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 on the condition that they would get back out of your settlement.
Depending on the reimbursement rate and the right to be reimbursed, the amount of a settlement you put in your pocket can be significantly affected by which bills you pay first, which bills you submit to health insurance or Med Pay, and which bills can be deferred until settlement. This involves a strategy that you need to discuss early on with your attorney.
If you have any questions, you should contact Malman Law Firm at 303-733-7900 or ilianameza@malmanlawfirm.com.