How Do I Pay My Medical Bills After A Car Accident?

How Do I Pay My Medical Bills After A Car Accident?

At the Jackson Law Group, PLLC, our Wytheville & Hillsville car accident lawyers often get questions from potential clients who have been injured in a car accident. Accident victims have usually already incurred medical expenses and likely require future medical treatment for their injuries. One common question we receive is how medical bills are paid in the time period between the accident and when the claim is resolved by settlement or court trial. 

Health Insurance: If you have health insurance, you should make sure that all of your bills get submitted to your health insurance company. Sometimes medical providers will not submit your bills to your health insurance when they become aware that your treatment was related to a car wreck claim. Virginia Code 8.01-27.5 requires in-network health care providers to submit your bills to your health insurance upon your request. Making sure your bills get submitted to your health insurance provider will make a big difference in what you are able to pocket after a settlement or verdict.

MedPay: Car accident victims can look to their own auto insurance policy for help with paying medical bills. Some auto insurance policies have coverage called “medical expense benefits” or “MedPay”. A separate claim is initiated under your medical expense benefits coverage and you can submit medical bills for payment. Payments are made until the benefits have been exhausted. For example, if an accident victim has $5,000 in medical expense benefits coverage and submits bills totaling $7,000, the policy will pay $5,000 of the submitted bills.

MedPay benefits are paid regardless of who was at fault and are relatively cheap to add to your auto insurance policy. This coverage also follows you and will still pay your medical bills if you are in an accident in someone else’s vehicle. These benefits are also paid after they are submitted and are completely unrelated to any claim against the negligent driver’s liability insurance policy.

Lastly, medical expense benefits paid by your auto insurance do not have to be reimbursed out of money received under the liability claim by settlement or court verdict. 

Medicare and Medicaid: Accident victims should have their medical providers submit all bills to Medicare and Medicaid just like they were any other type of health insurance. The big difference with Medicare and Medicaid are their reimbursement rights. Personal injury attorneys are required to notify Medicare and Medicaid whenever they represent a client who has health insurance coverage by those providers. Federal and state law provides that Medicare and Medicaid get reimbursed out of liability claim funds for any benefits paid out. Ultimately, this means that an injured person who is on Medicare or Medicaid will have to pay back an amount out of any settlement or court verdict.

Do you still have questions about how to get your medical bills paid following your car accident? Do you have other questions about your legal rights? For more information about personal injury claims in Virginia, please contact one of the Hillsville and Wytheville car accident attorneys at The Jackson Law Group, PLLC by calling 276.728.3737 or by filling out a contact form on this website for a free consultation to learn how we can assist you.