Your health insurance may cover your hospital bills after a car crash, but you’ll still need to hold an at-fault driver’s auto insurance financially liable. You don’t want to be stuck with co-pays and deductibles.
In most cases, your health insurance provider would also want to be fully compensated for all hospital expenses it has already paid for. That money should come from the at-fault driver’s car insurance company involved.
Maison Laws’ skilled California car accident lawyers offer a free consultation on how to make sure you receive every benefit after a careless driver causes an accident. That includes making sure your health insurance company is reimbursed so that you don’t get stuck with bills and co-pays after a crash that wasn’t your fault.
California Car Accidents and Health Insurance
Your health insurance will cover your medical bills after a car accident, no matter who is to blame. The health insurance company would cover costs as it would for any illness or injury. But after an accident, they have the right to demand those costs be reimbursed by a car insurance company covering an accident.
When you go to an emergency room or to a doctor for care after an accident, you’d be asked to provide your health insurance information and any relevant car insurance information.
Your health insurance may cover all of the costs of an emergency room visit (minus the copays and deductibles), but to protect yourself financially, you’ll still need to file an accident claim with the at-fault driver’s car insurance provider.
How Does My Health Insurance Company Get Reimbursed After an Accident
You would hopefully secure a car accident settlement that includes reimbursement for all of your hospital care. Your health insurance company would usually wait for you to win your case and then seek to be reimbursed out of your settlement.
In some cases, a health insurance company can go after a car insurance company itself through a process called subrogation. They would demand reimbursement directly from an at-fault driver’s car insurance provider.
Unfortunately, the car accident victim can get robbed of valuable compensation on both ends of this process. A health insurance provider can reclaim too much money from the victim and car insurance providers can provide too little in compensation for what the victim has been through. Victims should speak to a California car accident lawyer in a free, no-obligation consultation to find out if they need the protection of a lawyer as they seek to recover from a collision.
Waiting on a Car Insurance Settlement Instead of Using Health Insurance
There are several reasons why you would want to use an at-fault driver’s car insurance coverage instead of health insurance if possible. You may have to wait on a car insurance settlement as you negotiate an agreement, but if your doctors, ambulance companies, and hospital administrators will wait on payment, you’ll probably save yourself a lot of money by not using your health insurance.
The at-fault motorist’s car insurance protection should pay for every cost you endure. That’s only fair when a driver’s mistake caused your injury.
Avoiding using your own health insurance policy can leave you in better financial shape due to these factors and more:
- Your health insurer will likely charge you co-pays and expensive deductibles according to your policy terms throughout recovery. You might not get these back.
- You might need care that your particular health insurance policy won’t cover.
- You might be charged for out-of-network doctors and hospital care when you are taken to the closest hospital after an accident.
- The use of your health insurance policy may affect your ability to get full coverage for other injuries and illnesses in the months ahead.
- You won’t be compensated for some factors that a car insurance settlement will cover. Health insurance won’t help you pay to repair your car. You also can’t seek damages for the physical pain and emotional trauma a traffic impact causes.
Reasons You May Have to Use Health Insurance After a California Car Accident
There will be times when health insurance will be the only coverage you can count on after a crash on a California freeway or boulevard. Your car insurance claim can take a few months to gain approval and then payment arrival can take weeks more.
Your health insurance is usually available immediately. At least sooner than a car insurance payout. There are several reasons you may have to rely on health insurance after a crash:
- The car accident injury settlement check will be delayed. An insurance adjuster for the at-fault driver may question who was to blame for a crash or could be trying to downplay the seriousness of your injuries.
- A driver may only have the bare minimum in car insurance. A low cap on car insurance might mean that coverage runs out before all of your medical bills are paid. You’d have to rely on health insurance to cover any additional costs.
- You may fall behind on normal monthly bills. Filing a claim with your health insurance company can get doctors and hospitals paid for the time being until a settlement arrives. You can focus on keeping up with car payments, your rent, credit card payments, and other essentials.
Insurance Tactics That Leave You Depending on Health Insurance
An at-fault driver’s auto insurance company may dispute who was to blame and refuse to provide quick support. The auto accident insurer could also be purposely making you wait, leaving you to sit and watch as more and more hospital bills arrive. They want you to become desperate enough to jump at any low settlement offer they come back with.
When car insurance companies attempt these unfair tactics, it’s past time to speak with a California car accident attorney about your options. You should contact a skilled car accident attorney first thing if you suffer a serious injury in an accident, or if you are being unfairly blamed for what happened. You may need help forcing a car insurer to accept liability for a careless driver.
Your California car accident lawyer fully investigates your case and establishes the facts so you can’t be wrongly accused. You could also need help making sure you are getting what your injury and hardships are worth. Your lawyer will be negotiating to get the most possible out of your injury claim.
Contact a California Car Accident Lawyer
It’s understandable when victims recovering from car accident injuries worry over the massive financial burden hospital bills cause. The driver who caused the accident should be 100% responsible for those expenses, but insurance companies can sometimes find ways to avoid blame.
If you are worried that you are being stuck with the costs of an accident you weren’t to blame for, please contact a California personal injury lawyer. Maison Law offers a free case consultation. We’ll go over what happened to you and then determine if you need the help of a skilled lawyer to get every health insurance bill paid for. We also want to earn enough so that victims and their families have enough compensation left over to complete their own financial recovery.
If you decide we can help you maximize your settlement after an accident, you won’t need any money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your personal injury case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement you are awarded.
