Your health insurance may cover accidents. If your health insurance policy helps you cover your medical bills after an accident, your health insurance company may seek compensation for the medical expenses it covered for you.
If you or someone you care about was involved in an accident recently, we encourage you to call S. Burke Law. Our legal team will pore over every detail of your case to help you collect the compensation you need. Our team prides itself on serving Atlanta’s citizens and dedicate ourselves to putting the strongest case together on your behalf. Call us at 404-842-7838 for your free consultation.
Auto Insurance Policies Typically Pay First
Georgia requires motorists to carry certain minimum coverages on their auto policies. These policies cover any injuries and damage drivers cause in accidents.
MedPay Coverage
However, insurance companies also offer various types of optional insurance that cover the policyholder. One that can be very helpful after a car accident is medical payments, or MedPay, coverage. Insurers often offer this coverage at $1,000 to $50,000 per policy.
Filing a Claim Against the Other Driver
A more common option is to file a claim against the other driver in the accident if they caused or contributed to the collision. This will allow you to recover compensation for your medical expenses without ever going through your insurance company.
Note: If you had your health insurance cover your medical care until you received your settlement from the other driver, your health insurance may attempt to recover those expenses from the car insurance company. This process is called subrogation.
Subrogation After Your Accident
Subrogation is basically a legal right allowing one entity to sue for payments they made on behalf of someone else. It is a legal term you generally do not hear very often. The reason you hear about it so rarely is that subrogation typically happens at the end of the claims process. And the process involves the insurance companies almost entirely without involving the insured person much.
Your insurance company is required, however, to inform you that it is beginning the subrogation process.
Two Examples of Subrogation After an Accident
You suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident. You did not have MedPay coverage and could not wait until you received a settlement to pay your medical bills. Your health insurance company covers $10,000 in medical expenses.
Example 1: Once you have determined the other party is liable, the health insurance company will sue the other driver’s auto insurance company for those $10,000 in medical expenses.
Example 2: You determined the other party was liable for your injuries. You file a claim for $50,000, including $10,000 for medical expenses. Because you filed for those medical expenses your health insurance company already paid, it will take $10,000 from your settlement.
What You Can Recover
If your health insurance company covered your medical expenses, you cannot recover compensation for those same medical expenses. However, if you needed to pay deductibles or co-pays, you can receive reimbursement for that.
You can also recover compensation for any medical expenses your health insurance company did not pay.
How to Pay Medical Bills Without Using Health Insurance While Waiting for Your Settlement
In some cases, you do not need to depend on your health insurance to pay medical bills. We can discuss your case with your doctors and other medical providers to let them know they will receive payment as soon as you win your case. This can keep your doctor’s office off your back and allow you to continue getting the care you need.
If the doctor refuses to wait on payment, we can discuss the possibility of a payment plan. You can pay a small amount of your debt each month until you win your case. You can also add those payment amounts to your settlement demand.
Call an Atlanta Personal Injury Attorney
Covering expenses is one of the primary concerns for anyone following an accident. The answers do not always seem clear and knowing where to even look for the answers is difficult, too. But this is where an auto accident lawyer at S. Burke Law can help you. Our team of legal professionals examines every detail of your accident. And we can lay out exactly what your options are as you seek the compensation you require.
We can also help you through any complications that accompany your health insurance company covering your medical bills. Feel free to reach out to an injury lawyer at 404-842-7838 to learn more about how we can help you.