After being injured in a car accident, one of the first questions that comes up is, “Who is going to pay my medical bills?”  Surprisingly, regardless of who was responsible for the accident, your own car insurance company is first in line to pay the bills.

First Party Benefits - Medical Coverage

Under Pennsylvania law, when you buy car insurance, you are required to have at least $5,000 of medical coverage.  You can buy more, but $5,000 is the minimum.  Then, if you get injured in an accident, even if it was not your fault, your medical bills will be paid by your own coverage.  So, when you get treatment, you give the provider your car insurance information, not health insurance.

What Happens When I Run Out of Coverage?

Your First Party Medical Coverage may run out or be “exhausted.”  When that happens, your car insurance company will send you an “Exhaustion Letter” telling you that benefits have been paid.  At that point, your health insurance, if any, must start to pay your bills.  When this happens you will, of course, have to follow all the rules of your health plan, including using “network providers,” paying deductibles and co-pays.  If the accident was not your fault, your lawyer can recover co-pays and deductibles from the responsible driver. 

If you do not have health insurance and were not responsible for the accident, your lawyer can make a legal claim for medical expenses against the responsible person.

If you are going to have permanent medical needs and the accident was not your fault, your lawyer can recover compensation for reasonably necessary future medical expenses, regardless of whether or not you have health insurance.  The reason that you can recover future medical expenses, even if you have insurance, is that there is no guarantee that you will have insurance in the future.

So, if you are injured in an accident, here’s what to remember about medical bills:

• Your own car insurance covers first;
• Health insurance covers after car insurance;
• Keep track of all medical expenses you pay — they are reimbursed in the lawsuit; and
• Probable future medical expenses are recoverable in the lawsuit.

Tim is a graduate of Widener University School of Law (J.D.) and the Temple University Beasley School of Law (Master’s Degree in Trial Advocacy).  Tim focuses his practice in Personal Injury law, including car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle and pedestrian accidents, slip and falls, dangerous products/products liability cases and medical malpractice.  Tim is a partner in the Chester County, PA, law firm of MacElree Harvey and has offices in Kennett Square and West Chester, PA, and Centreville, DE.  Tim is the author of numerous publications on Personal Injury law and writes a Blog providing news and information on Personal Injury law at www.macelree.com/traynelaw and is a columnist for The Kennett Paper writing a column titled “Legal Lines.”  Tim has also published two books on Personal Injury law:  “A Lawyer’s Guide to Purchasing Car Insurance” and “A Lawyer’s Guide to Personal Injury Cases.”  In 2007, Tim was named by Main Line Today as one of the area’s Top Personal Injury Litigators.  In addition, Tim is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum which recognizes the “Top Trial Lawyers in America,” with membership limited to attorneys who have won million dollar awards and settlements on behalf of their clients. 

Tim can be reached by phone at 610-840-0124, by email at trayne@macelree.com or on his Blog at www.macelree.com/traynelaw.  

This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:59 pm and is filed under Legal Damages. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.