If you’ve been injured, one of the first things you are going to be thinking about is your medical bills. If you pursue a personal injury claim and if you are successful the responsible party will have to compensate you for your medical bills. But the claim process or trial can take a long time. In the meantime, who is going to pay your immediate medical bills?
There are a number of potential options available to deal with your medical bills while you are waiting on your personal injury case to resolve. Every case is different, and it is important to take a look at some of the possibilities:
Workers Comp: If you’ve been hurt on the job, you may be entitled to workers compensation benefits.
Health Insurance: If none of those coverages are available, then your own health insurance, if any, will pay your medical bills, subject to the terms and conditions of your policy.
Medical Payments Coverage, know as “med pay": You will have to check your car insurance policy to receive med pay benefits. Unfortunately, the policy limits often are relatively low, usually less than $5,000.
Open Accounts with Providers: Finally, if you don’t have access to any source of medical benefits to pay your bills while your personal injury claim is pending, some medical providers will agree to hold your account. While you are going through medical treatment, if any of your outstanding medical bills are going into collection, our office contact medical providers asking them to hold off on collection until after the claim is resolved. Our office can send a "letter of protection" which generally says that in the event of a settlement of jury verdict, you agree to pay the provider first. This step helps to preserve your credit rating and stops bill collectors from harassing you. The willingness of medical providers to hold your account varies greatly from provider to provider.
*Reimbursement/Subrogation of Benefits: One thing many people do not realize is that even when insurance or other benefits are available to pay their immediate medical bills, whether workers comp, health insurance or other programs, these entities almost always have a right to get paid back from any settlement or jury verdict in your case, subject to certain terms.
If you've been injured, seek the advice of an attorney and call our office today! (404) 436-1LAW!