If you are injured in an automobile accident, you may be wondering who will pay for accident-related care and treatment. Prior to a settlement or jury verdict, it is unlikely that the responsible party will pay for care and treatment. Therefore, you will likely turn to your health insurer for payment.
If you do not have health insurance through an employer plan, private plan or government plan, the prospect of unpaid medical bills may be daunting. Therefore, it is important to consult your own automobile policy declarations to determine if you have coverage for accident-related medical expenses.
Although not every policy has medical expense coverage, many policies have a small amount of coverage ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. Some auto insurers offer higher amounts, even up to $100,000. While this may seem like a lot of coverage, the cost of significantly increasing the amount of medical expense coverage on your automobile policy may be minimal. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you consult with your automobile insurance agent to discuss options for increasing your medical expense coverage.
This is true even if you have health insurance through your employer. Employer-sponsored health plans may have high deductibles that could leave you with significant responsibility for medical expenses until met. Having medical expense coverage under your automobile policy may assist in covering these expenses. Moreover, under federal law, some employer-sponsored health plans may claim a first right of recovery from any settlement.
Medical expenses paid under an automobile policy, however, are likely subject to a doctrine known as made-whole. The made-whole doctrine provides that the auto insurer making medical payments is not entitled to be reimbursed for medical expenses paid until you are made whole for injuries and damages sustained.
After you receive a settlement from the responsible party’s insurer, it is often possible to negotiate a reduction in the amount of medical expenses to be reimbursed to the insurer paying under the medical expense coverage of an automobile policy to avoid a dispute as to whether the settlement has made you whole.
If you are involved in an automobile accident, you should always remember to check your own automobile policy to access any benefits you may have for medical expense coverage. It is equally important to be proactive by considering increasing your medical expense coverage now before you are the unfortunate victim of a serious automobile accident.
