Who pays my medical bills after a car accident?

One of the most confusing issues my clients encounter after a car crash relates to how their medical bills are paid.

People commonly assume that if they are injured in a car crash, the at-fault driver’s car insurance company will pay their crash-related medical bills as the bills come in. This is usually not true. While the at-fault driver’s car insurance company may be legally obligated to reimburse the injured party for their medical bills, this will not happen until the end of the case- which may be months or years after the treatment was received.

So, if the at-fault driver’s car insurance company does not directly pay the medical providers, who does? The answer is- it depends. Believe it or not, the injured driver’s own car insurance company may be the primary payer of collision-related medical bills, depending on the terms of their policy. If you have medical payments coverage (also known as no-fault or PIP in other states) included on your car insurance policy, your car insurance company will pay your crash-related medical bills up to your policy limit. This is true even if you were not at fault for the collision.

If you do not have medical payments coverage included on your car insurance policy, your health insurance will be next in line to pay your medical bills. Unfortunately, people commonly have deductibles or co-pays associated with their health insurance, which requires them to front significant out-of-pocket expenses. I have had clients who after one ER visit became personally responsible for paying hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars to the hospital due to their high health insurance deductible.

The good news is that hospitals and other medical providers will often work with my clients so that their bills can be repaid in installments over an extended period of time. Some medical providers will also accept a letter of protection, which means that the provider will be repaid directly out of the future personal injury recovery. This scenario is usually ideal as it allows the injured party to get the necessary medical treatment, without having to worry about personally affording the bills pending the resolution of their case.