After a car accident, most victims are preoccupied with the present moment. The most pressing questions on their minds are how to get the treatment they need for their injuries and cover the cost of their medical expenses. Unfortunately, sometimes severe collisions cause significant injuries that require ongoing care and medical intervention. As the weeks and months stretch on, how are medical expenses paid after a car accident?
It’s crucial to know your legal rights and understand how to pay past and future medical expenses for a car accident. An experienced Gulfport car accident attorney at Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC can point you in the right direction.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to paying medical bills after a car crash. Depending on your unique situation, there may be multiple avenues available to help you cover your past and future medical costs, including:
After a Mississippi car accident, the at-fault driver is responsible for covering the damages – typically through their liability insurance. That means a car accident victim can have past and future medical expenses paid by filing a claim with the at-fault driver’s car insurance company.
Some victims of severe car accidents may have issues recovering the compensation they need due to the other driver’s policy limits. Minimum mandatory liability insurance coverage for bodily injury in Mississippi is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident. If injuries are significant or require long-term treatment, minimum policy limits may be exceeded quickly.
In situations where the at-fault driver has no or insufficient coverage, an accident victim may turn to their own insurer for help by filing an uninsured/underinsured motorist claim to help cover their medical bills. However, this coverage is optional, so you’ll need to check whether you have it on your policy.
Another optional personal car insurance policy that can help pay for accident-related medical bills is Medical Payments (MedPay) coverage. Injury victims may use this coverage to pay medical expenses after a car crash, regardless of who was at fault.
In some cases, it may be necessary to file a personal injury lawsuit against an at-fault driver, their insurer, or another liable party to recover compensation for past and future medical costs. Accepting a quick settlement from an insurer may seem like the best way to get the money you need upfront. However, these settlements rarely factor in the potential for future medical costs or long-term complications. Your personal injury lawyer can advise you on when a car accident lawsuit may be a good option.
Often, the first resource accident victims turn to for payment of their immediate medical expenses is their private medical insurance. A health insurance plan can help individuals cover the cost of emergency room treatment, medications, and other immediate medical care needs. This may be the most efficient way to cover medical expenses quickly, as it can take time to file a claim and seek compensation for medical bills through a car insurance company. However, you may still owe deductibles, co-pays, and other costs – which the at-fault party should be held responsible for.
Medical expenses are relatively straightforward to calculate because they have specific values. Past medical expenses for a car accident can be calculated by totaling the costs associated with your injuries, including hospital stays, emergency room visits, doctor’s appointments, therapy, prescription medications, and medical devices.
Future medical cost valuations are made using predictions that factor in a patient’s ongoing care needs, planned surgeries, rehabilitation, or the need for durable medical goods or prosthetics. It can be hard to estimate the lifetime cost of your injuries, making it crucial to work with a car accident attorney who can help you demand compensation for the full extent of your losses.
Medical records and bills are the most crucial pieces of evidence to document the cost of past and current medical expenses associated with the car accident. Accident victims need to keep detailed records, including all:
Not only do these records help establish medical expenses, but they also help to prove medical necessity and the severity of an accident victim’s injuries.
Expert medical witness testimony can also serve as robust evidence to help establish the cost of future medical treatments and the patient’s long-term needs. Predicting the cost of future treatment can be a subjective process. Medical and financial experts can help establish a benchmark for the price of future care.
Ongoing medical treatment and permanent disabilities can complicate a personal injury case. Serious car accident injuries may require long-term care, medications, or rehabilitation. However, victims are still entitled to pursue fair compensation for all accident-related medical expenses. Prolonged medical care can be factored into future medical costs, and expert testimony can help support the case that an accident victim requires sufficient funds to cover ongoing or permanent care and treatment.
An accident victim can recover medical expenses from the at-fault party even if they have already paid for their treatment out of pocket. Mississippi courts have ruled that a liable party must still pay the full amount of damages, regardless of whether the victim or their insurer has already paid the costs associated with their treatment.
Private or government health insurance policies can help cover the cost of a victim’s accident-related medical treatments immediately. Waiting for a settlement or verdict can take months or longer, which could result in the medical provider turning your bills over to collections if you don’t pay them yourself. However, health insurance coverage can affect the money you can get for your car accident medical bills, primarily due to subrogation.
Subrogation is the process that an insurer uses to recover the money they paid for your injuries and treatments. Essentially, it is a lien against your settlement or judgment. When an injury victim is awarded compensation and has a subrogation lien, a portion of that money goes to repay the health insurance provider. These entities have a right to be reimbursed from the settlement for the medical costs they initially covered.
Insurance companies are for-profit businesses. It is not in their best interest to pay out maximum settlements to injured car accident victims. Insurance adjusters may employ aggressive tactics to undervalue a personal injury claim, including:
A skilled car accident attorney can help combat these tactics to protect your right to full and fair compensation.
At Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, our car accident lawyers are recognized for taking on challenging cases, prioritizing our clients’ needs, and maximizing compensation to help you receive the medical care you deserve.
Our legal team can help you through this challenging time by:
We also work on a contingency-fee basis. That means you pay nothing up front, and you don’t owe us any fees unless we get money for you.
At Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, we have over 10 years of legal experience that we can leverage to pursue the compensation you need to manage your physical and mental recovery after a devastating Gulfport car accident. With a proven track record of impressive results, including a recent car accident settlement worth $700,000,* we are confident in our ability to manage the most challenging cases. Our clients agree. Their testimonials and hundreds of positive reviews point to our commitment to put you first, such as this one:
“I was walked thru the process in detail and felt like I truly had someone in my corner with my best interest at heart.” – Tara Madden Mitchell
Demand more for your injuries. Contact our office now (228) 872-8752 or fill out our form for your free consultation and learn how our team can help you pursue fair compensation for your medical expenses and other losses.
*Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, as every case is different
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