I Don’t Have Medical Insurance But I Was Injured in a Car Accident
Medical bills for those injured in a car accident can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. While a stressful and often scary situation for most, someone injured in a motor vehicle accident who does not have medical insurance may find themselves particularly confused on how to proceed, especially if they are not at fault for the accident.
If you are experiencing mild to severe injuries, it is highly recommended that you seek medical care despite being uninsured. However, you will be expected to come up with payment at the time of billing. Funds from the driver at fault or their insurance company will most likely not be available for months, or even up to a year, which is longer than medical providers are willing to wait. Here are a few of your options.
Payment Plans
Partial payments on medical bills is not out of the question for most medical providers. The billing department of the facility where you sought treatment can set up a plan for you. Be aware, though, that failure to make any payments will result in your bill being sent to collections, even if the accident is not your fault. This can significantly hurt your credit score.
To avoid being overcharged, something that commonly happens to those without health insurance, ask for the “cash price” for the treatment that was provided to you. This often decreases the total cost of your treatment.
For a legal consultation with a personal injury lawyer, call 434-817-3100
Med Pay Coverage
If you do not have medical insurance but are injured in a car accident that is not your fault, you may be able to get medical treatment under your car insurance policy. In particular, med pay, or medical benefits coverage is designed to pay for expenses related to injuries sustained in a crash regardless of who caused it. You may have med pay coverage under your car insurance policy and you should check. As an aside, if you don’t have med pay benefits, you should get some. It is usually dirt cheap and it can protect you if you do not have health insurance and you are hurt in a crash.
Here’s how to check if you have med pay coverage: get a copy of your car insurance policy’s declarations page. You should be able to find this if you have an app on your phone from your insurance company. Once you find the declarations page, check to see if you have medical benefits or medical payments coverage. If you do have it, you should also check to see how much coverage is available to you.
If you have med pay benefits, call your insurance company to open a claim. They will ask you to send bills or invoices you have incurred to get treatment for injuries related to the crash. This allows you to get necessary medical care, send the bill to your own car insurance company, and let the car insurance company pay the bills for you.
Healthcare providers like hospitals, doctor’s offices, therapists, and chiropractors actually prefer that you use your med pay benefits when paying for medical treatment they provide. Why? Because when they bill health insurance, they get paid a very low negotiated rate for the treatment and services they provide. They usually get paid just a fraction of the total amount by the health insurance company.
But when the healthcare providers bill a car insurance medical benefits policy, those healthcare providers are able to send and be paid for 100% of the amount they bill. So, in other words, they will get paid far more by the car insurance company than they would by the health insurance company.
If you have both health insurance coverage and medical payments coverage, you may find that your hospital or doctor may try to charge your car insurance instead of health insurance. DO NOT LET THEM DO THAT. In fact, Virginia law requires healthcare providers who are in network to send their bills to the health insurance company. If they fail to do so and instead try to bill the car insurance company, they may forfeit their right to be paid for the medical services they provide.
This law is located at Va. Code sec. 8.01-27.5.
Treatment on a Lien Basis
Somewhat similar to being paid on a payment plan, some healthcare providers may agree to provide medical treatment in exchange for a lien on the proceeds of any personal injury settlement or verdict that is reached. This has both upsides and downsides.
The upside is that you are able to get much needed medical treatment that you would otherwise not be able to afford. This will help you be able to get the necessary medical care so that you can recover as best as possible.
The downside is that the insurance company and defense attorney will try to challenge the legitimacy, necessity, and reasonableness of your medical treatment. They may attack the professionalism and credibility of the doctor and suggest that the doctor is providing the treatment under these circumstances with the hopes of getting a big pay out. After all, the doctor who performs the treatment on lien will receive the full amount charged if the claim is successful, so that incentives the doctor to treat very liberally. It also incentivizes the doctor to be an advocate for the client’s court case, and that may be grounds for challenging his credibility and alleged lack of bias.
Despite these downsides, getting medical treatment on a lien basis might present the best possible option in certain cases.
Talk to an Attorney
Car accident attorneys work to protect victims of motor vehicle accidents while seeking maximum compensation for any damages incurred. This includes, but is not limited to, lost wages, property damages and of course, medical bills. If you are the victim of a car accident and do not have medical insurance, be sure to maintain a record of all of your treatments, accident reports and bills. These are components of a claim that an attorney can file to recover the damages to pay your medical bills.
If you do not have health insurance to treat your injuries, it is especially important for you to contact a skilled and experienced personal injury lawyer to guide you through your options.
Call us today for that guidance and to have a free consultation.
Call 434-817-3100 or complete a Case Evaluation form