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How to pay medical bills after an accident - YouTube
Channel: LawFull
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people who are involved in auto
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accidents always call me surprised that
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the auto insurance company for the
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driver who hit them won't pay their
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medical bills until their case settles
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watch this video to find out how to get
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your medical bills paid and to avoid you
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having those bills go to collections hi
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Barry here with the lawful Channel if
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you've tuned in before you know that
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this channel is full of short videos on
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the legal topics that affect your life
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if you have any legal questions please
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feel free to reach out to me if I can't
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help you I'll find someone who can and
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please subscribe to our Channel so the
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one misperception that auto accident
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victims always have is that the
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insurance for the driver who hit you is
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going to pay for your medical bills as
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you get your medical treatment it
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doesn't work that way in most states
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again most states your medical bills
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will not be paid by the insurance
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company until your case is resolved
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whether by verdict or through settlement
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now again this doesn't apply in all
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states specifically it doesn't apply to
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states that follow no-fault laws I put a
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link in the show notes below to those
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states that do follow no-fault laws and
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in those states your medical bills
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generally speaking are going to be paid
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regardless of fault but no-fault states
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aside after an accident there's really
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no point in telling the emergency room
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or your doctor or your chiropractor to
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build the insurance for the guy who hit
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you the only thing that's gonna happen
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in that case is that your medical bills
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are just gonna sit there and ultimately
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they're going to go to collections which
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theoretically could affect your credit
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it's really unfair isn't it I mean you
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were involved in an accident that was
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not your fault yet you're still the one
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who is responsible for making sure that
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your medical bills get paid so here are
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a few of the different ways that you can
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make sure your medical bills get paid
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first I already mentioned there's no
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fault insurance several states follow
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no-fault
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pterence laws and the reason being is
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that it makes sure that your bills get
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paid after an accident regardless of
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who's at fault so there is some benefit
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to no-fault laws there are some
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detractions as well but we're not going
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to get into those in this video the
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second way to pay your medical bills is
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by using what's called med pay or
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medical payments coverage it's just a
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small part of your auto insurance policy
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in some states it might be called PIP
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coverage or personal injury protection
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the way it works is that prior to
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getting in an accident you will have
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contracted with your insurance company
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to provide you twenty five hundred
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dollars or five thousand or even ten
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thousand dollars in medical payments
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coverage now the thing about it is I've
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heard a lot of people on YouTube say
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that med pay isn't worth it well if you
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don't have health insurance it's worth
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it because otherwise your medical bills
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are not going to get paid also it's
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great for paying for deductibles and
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your co-pays in addition you can use
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your med pay regardless of fault so if
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you caused an accident
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you can still use it and lastly the nice
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thing about med pay is it's not 80/20
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you don't have to pay a portion of your
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medical bill your med pay will cover it
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all the third way to pay your medical
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bills is something that I always advise
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my clients to do and that is to use your
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health insurance sometimes medical
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providers don't want to take your health
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insurance after an accident why is that
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because your health insurance provider
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like Aetna or Cigna or Blue Cross Blue
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Shield has a contract with the medical
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provider so if you have a ten thousand
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dollar medical bill it's likely that
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Aetna has already negotiated they will
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only pay three thousand dollars of that
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bill now if instead
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Edna comes after you for the bill they
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will likely recover more that's why I
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always recommend using your insurance
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because it'll cost you a lot less in the
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end a couple of significant points to
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remember when using your health
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insurance to pay your medical bills
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after an auto accident
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first your health insurance company is
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probably going to want to be reimbursed
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for the money they
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to your medical providers on your behalf
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second even if you use your health
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insurance you're not totally off the
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hook because you're still gonna have to
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pay your co-pays or your coinsurance or
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meet your deductible before your health
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insurance kicks in and many of us these
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days have large deductibles and as such
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have to put out a lot of money before
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our insurance will pay for our bills
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another way to pay for your bills is by
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using a lien Li en and by lien I mean
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when you go to an emergency room for
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example shortly after you receive your
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treatment you'll receive a letter in the
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mail saying that the hospital has filed
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a lien with the county and a lien means
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that they have a claim to your recovery
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meaning that when you do settle your
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case you are obligated by law to pay
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your medical provider back now some
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folks do it immediately like a hospital
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other doctors oftentimes chiropractors
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will enter into a lien agreement with
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you meaning they will provide you the
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medical service you need and in exchange
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for your agreement to pay them they will
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hold off collecting until you resolve
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your case another option for paying your
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bills is to pay an upfront to pay with
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cash now obviously this isn't the most
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frequently used option and most of us
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can't afford to pay for our medical
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bills much of which is very expensive
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but it is an option the thing to
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remember here is since you don't have a
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contract with your medical provider
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they're gonna charge you the full amount
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of your medical bills so if you can try
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to negotiate the amount of your medical
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bills with your provider before your
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treatment occurs and the last way to pay
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for your medical bills is to use the
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auto insurance but as I already told you
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the defendants auto insurance company is
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not going to pay for your medical bills
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and your case is resolved and the same
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thing goes for your uninsured motorist
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or underinsured motorist coverage your
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insurance company aside from med pay is
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not going to pay for your medical bills
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until the case resolves as well so it's
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critical to stay on top of your medical
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bills as you start to receive them if
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you have an attorney get your attorney
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involved to call these medical providers
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to make sure they hold off billing and
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don't send the bills to
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collections one last point I want to
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leave you with there's another
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misperception that people have that when
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you settle your case your settlement is
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separate and different from your medical
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bills that's not the case let me give an
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example if you settle your case for
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$10,000 let's say you had a back sprain
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and that's what your case is worth if
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you have three thousand dollars in
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medical bills they're not sitting on top
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of the ten thousand dollars the three
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thousand dollars in medical bills is
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included in the ten thousand dollar
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settlement offer the insurance company
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made to you in addition if you have an
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attorney you have to pay your attorney
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out of that ten thousand dollars as well
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so that's something to keep in mind when
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you're deciding on whether to accept an
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insurance company's settlement offer or
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not okay it's time for your take on the
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law were you involved in an auto
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accident and then we're left wondering
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how you were gonna pay for your medical
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bills or maybe your health insurance
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paid your bills and you had to pay them
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back or did you get medical treatment on
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the lien tell us about it in the show
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notes below hey many thanks for watching
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this video if you haven't already please
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subscribe to our Channel and if you have
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any questions or comments on any legal
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topic feel free to reach out to me if I
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can't help you I'll find someone who can
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[Music]
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you
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