What Do You Do about Your Medical Bills When Filing an Injury Lawsuit?
Posted on: 23 January 2023
A personal injury lawsuit will help you recover the financial losses that you sustained through various medical bills. However, those medical bills will likely come in before you settle your case, and you may have a lot of them if you suffered a catastrophic injury. This can make you wonder how you will handle those medical bills in the meantime. Here are a few things you need to know about this unique situation.
Your Health Insurance Can Cover the Majority Of The Bills
The main option that most people use is to use their personal health insurance. This means that you are bound to the doctors within your network, which can result in you being responsible for paying for copays, money toward your deductible, and co-insurance. Meanwhile, you will be responsible for paying those bills that you receive in the meantime.
When you settle your case it will be for the full amount of your medical bills, even the amount that the health insurance paid for. You would then be required to pay back the insurance company their portion of the bills.
Your PIP Benefits Can Pay For Your Immediate Bills
Your insurance provider may give you the option of paying for personal injury protection insurance, known as PIP. There is a limit to how much PIP will pay out if you have medical bills related to an accident, but the PIP coverage will pay out first. Once you've reached the limit of your PIP policy, you will then start to use your personal health insurance.
Your Lawyer Can Advance You the Money
It's possible that your lawyer will offer you an advance on the money that you need to pay for your immediate medical bills that arrive before the settlement is complete. They do this by placing a lien on the settlement, which gives them a right to immediately take money from the settlement amount to be reimbursed for any money they advanced to you.
Your Medical Provider Can Request a Medical Lien
Know that you also have the option of contacting your medical provider and telling them that you have a personal injury lawsuit that is pending that is related to your injuries. They will then hold off on collecting medical bills that you owe so that you do not incur late fees, and then place a lien on the settlement just like a lawyer can do. This allows the medical provider to get paid once the settlement is made. If you have more questions read more here.
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