Where Does Medical Bill Compensation Come from After a Car Accident?

When you’re injured in a car accident, medical bills will begin to pile up quickly. How are you going to pay for them? It’s possible you’ll find yourself in the middle of a lawsuit awaiting a large settlement, but the bills need to be paid in the meantime so you can avoid getting sent to collections. What should you do?

Use Your Personal Health Coverage

If you plan to use your personal health coverage to pay for medical bills, be sure you inform your carrier that the injuries are the result of a car accident. Your health insurance coverage is just a stepping stone to getting proper medical assistance. The insurance company will want to get paid back as soon as your settlement is final. The payback will typically come right out of your settlement, even before you see any of the cash yourself.

File for Workers’ Compensation Coverage

If your car accident was during the course of your employment, it’s possible you could receive workers’ compensation. You’ll need to prove your injuries took place while you were on the job, but workers’ comp is usually the primary payor and should be utilized if you were working while in your accident.

Utilize Personal Injury Protection

PIP coverage is required by law and covers the first medical bills you incur. There is a limit to PIP coverage, so as soon as that limit is reached, coverage ends. It’s sort of like a first-come-first-serve kind of treatment coverage.

Look into Medicaid

Similar to personal health coverage, if you use Medicaid to pay for your medical bills, you need to inform the Medicaid office that your injuries were the result of a car accident. Medicaid generally won’t pay out for injuries until PIP has been exhausted, so it’s important you seek compensation in the right order and that you provide a PIP exhaust notice when that has run out.

Pay Out of Pocket

Though your finances could get tight for a while, it’s best to try to pay your medical bills out of pocket if you have no other option than to let them go to collections. Do everything you can to get those bills paid, then you can use your later settlement money to pay yourself back.

Call an Attorney for Guidance

Being in a car accident can be a pain, especially when you end up in a lawsuit just waiting for your settlement money. For guidance in learning where to turn to get your medical bills paid in the meantime, contact a car accident lawyer, like a car accident lawyer in Woodland Hills, CA, today.

Thanks to Barry P. Goldberg, A Professional Law Corporation for their insight into how to get medical compensation after a car accident.