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Health & Fitness

How Do You Pay For Treatment After A Car Accident?

"Medical Payments" coverage is a great option on your auto policy.

When a person is injured in an automobile accident, his first question to me is usually whether he can sue someone. My first question to him is, “Are you getting the medical care you need?” We have two years to worry about a lawsuit. The client needs to take care of his injuries right now.

Motor vehicle accidents injure over 2 million people every year in the United States. That equals the entire population of the Greater Cleveland area, including all of Cuyahoga, Lake, Lorain, Medina and Geauga Counties. For many of those people, paying for the medical treatment they need is a real challenge.

People in the upper income brackets can usually rely on health insurance. The well-to-do generally have health insurance through their employment, and they can afford private insurance if they don’t.

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For people with little or no income, government-funded health care is often available through Medicare or Medicaid. And although not every health care provider will accept Medicare or Medicaid, an injured person can almost always find one who does.

Fortunately, there is a relatively inexpensive way for the average person to protect herself against the cost of medical treatment. It is called Medical Payments or “Med-Pay” coverage. This is an option that you can add to your automobile insurance policy that will pay for any medical treatment that you need for injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident.

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Med-Pay coverage costs only a few dollars per month and typically provides benefits with a limit of $5,000 to $10,000 per person, per accident. Some insurance companies offer higher or lower limits, and the cost for the coverage varies accordingly.

Med-Pay covers almost any medical treatment for accident-related injuries, including emergency room or hospital services, x-rays and doctor’s visits. Many insurance companies will pay the expenses directly, so you do not have to pay out-of-pocket and wait to be reimbursed.

In some respects, Med-Pay coverage is even better than private health insurance, because it has no deductibles and no co-pays. It pays every charge in full, up to the limit of the coverage.

The best thing about Med-Pay coverage is that it is true “no-fault” insurance. It pays, even if you were at fault for the accident, with very few exceptions. It won’t cover injuries from intentional misconduct or from an illegal use of the car, of course.

If you have Med-Pay coverage on your car, it not only covers you; it covers anyone riding in the car with you. Surprisingly, it also covers you if you are injured by a motor vehicle, even if you were not in a car! If you are hit while crossing the street as a pedestrian, you are still covered.

If you are riding in another person’s car, remember that you are covered by their Med-Pay coverage. So if you are injured as a passenger, you may have Med-Pay coverage, even if you do not have the coverage on your own policy.

Med-Pay can be extremely valuable after an accident, even if the other driver was at fault. The other driver may admit that he is responsible, and he may even have insurance, but that will not immediately pay your medical bills. 

The other driver’s insurance company probably will not settle your claim until you are done treating, and it has no obligation to advance you money for your medical treatment. Your own Med-Pay coverage can pay for the treatment you need on an on-going basis.

Now before you ask, no, you cannot get paid twice for your medical bills. If the other driver’s insurance does eventually pay your medical expenses, you have to give back the Med-Pay benefits. Usually, the other driver’s insurance company pays your insurance company back directly.

Given the low cost of Med-Pay coverage, I recommend it to all of my clients. It’s one way to make sure that they get the medical treatment they need, when they need it.  Once that’s taken care of, we’ll worry about whether anyone needs to sue.

Have a question or a suggestion for a topic? Email dspirgen@SpirgenLawFirm.com.

Patch posts are general discussions and should not be used as advice on any specific legal matter. If you need legal advice on a particular situation, please consult an attorney.

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