When you’re involved in an auto accident, getting and paying for proper medical treatment can sometimes be challenging. Sometimes, people who are the victims of “tortfeasors” (a fancy legal way to say someone who caused an auto accident) may not have the means to pay for medical treatment or may not have any health insurance. Nobody ever plans to be injured in an accident and the costs of treatment can often be in the tens of thousands of dollars. And while your lawyer may be able to get you compensation for your injuries by suing the tortfeasor’s auto insurance or filing a personal injury lawsuit, those cases can take years to resolve and get you the money you’re entitled to. So, how are you supposed to pay the medical bills for treatment you need today with money you won’t see until next year? One option is to work with us to get you quality medical treatment from providers who are willing to wait to be paid until the case is resolved BUT another option is called: Medical Payment Coverage.

Medical payment coverage is an optional feature that most auto insurance companies offer at the time your are signing up for auto insurance. It is what’s called a “no fault” benefit. This means even if you caused the accident, you can use this insurance to pay for your (or a passenger’s) medical expenses or regardless of who is at blame you can file a claim through your insurance. If you decide to purchase this add-on coverage, you can use these benefits to pay for all medical expenses directly related to an accident, up to the limits of the policy you’ve paid for.

Things that are typically covered under “Med Pay” are:

• Deductibles and copays for your health insurance plan
• Therapy
• Medications
• Doctor’s visits
• Hospital stays
• Injections, Surgeries,Procedures
• MRIs, X-rays and other imaging
• Lab work
• Ambulance fees

Coverage amounts under typical auto insurance policies can range from $1,000.00 to over $10,000.00 depending on the coverage you decide to opt into. AGAIN REMEMBER: this is an options coverage. If you don’t opt in to it, you usually won’t have it. To see if you do have this type of coverage, you can look at your detailed insurance bill or your insurance policy’s declaration page. If you’re having trouble seeing if you are covered, please feel free to call or contact us and we will review your policy and let you know for FREE!

Sometimes people don’t want to use their own insurance if the other party is clearly at fault BUT by using your medical payment coverage you can sometimes avoid some of the financial hardships involved in an auto accident. This type of coverage traditionally gets you money quickly and can give you some breathing room while you wait to get compensation from the person responsible for your injuries. Compared to a long settlement or litigation process, filing a Medical Payment claim is relatively easy and fast.

You should be aware that when you do file a Medical Payment claim, you will usually have to give your insurance “subrogation rights” to recover from the responsible party BUT usually a talented lawyer can negotiate this amount down considerably and you will have to pay back less than your insurance company paid out.

So, while Medical Payment coverage will not “make you whole”, it will help you to get the medical attention you need without having to bear much of the financial hardship of high medical bills.