Medical Bills After a Car Crash

When a person is injured in a motor vehicle accident it seems like overnight the medical bills can add up really quick, just an ambulance ride can cost you a fortune. This is why it is important to understand all your legal rights, what bills you need to pay, and when.

Also, you need to know under what scenario will the other driver be responsible for paying your repair and health/medical type of bills. If you are ever injured in a motor vehicle accident be sure to seek medical treatment, you don’t want to wait around because it will hurt your health and potentially hinder your lawsuit.

The health care system is confusing enough as it is, but once you involve an accident, lawyers, and court delays, the entire medical bill situation can become overwhelming. You will start having follow-up visits, tests, medicines to buy, physical therapy, etc., the list goes on.

Don’t take this headache on by yourself, you will need an experienced law firm to help.

Why Contact The Law Offices of Daniel Kim?

Daniel Kim is an experienced and aggressive injury lawyer with his corporate office in Orange County. Our law firm represents clients all over California, and our expert lawyers will help make sure you get maximum compensation for any injuries you suffered.

Daniel and his legal team have helped 1,000’s injury victims with a motorcycle accident, car wrecks, injuries from an Uber ride, even bike and pedestrian accidents.

You can contact our law firm 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. We know the mental stress that a car accident can cause for you and your family, and that is why we always put our clients first. Daniel Kim has an extensive network of doctors, physical therapists, and other resources that you will need once you start on the path to recovery.

Our law firm has a Great reputation on Yelp, Google, and Facebook, where our past clients have shared their success stories from hiring our law firm.

Don’t just hire a lawyer you find from a bus stop ad, or from a billboard you see on the 405 Freeway, be sure to do some homework and call Daniel Kim with any questions you might have.

Why Is Medical Treatment Important After an Accident?

After being injured in an auto accident, your health needs to be your number 1 priority. So many of our clients delay getting medical treatment because they are unsure how the bills will get paid even if they have health insurance.

If you suffer bruises, whiplash, broken bones, fractures, or even cuts, then you need to seek immediate medical care so you know what your injuries actually are. Don’t resist an offer for emergency medical transport in an ambulance from the scene of the accident, and don’t postpone seeing a doctor the next day.

Delaying medical treatment can make your injuries worse and prolong the healing process, and in California, auto insurance companies use the delay in treatment excuse as their main reason for denying a claim or trying to lower the value of your settlement.

Can You Get Medical Treatment if You Don’t Have Health Insurance?

Ultimately the short answer here is yes you are entitled to medical treatment. Under both state and federal law, hospitals are required to provide emergency treatment to any patient injured in a motor vehicle crash.

If you do happen to have medical insurance then you will be billed directly by any medical provider who offered their services. A lot of hospitals and doctors might offer discounts, there is nothing legally that binds them to treat people for free.

In other words, people without health insurance can get billed directly for any services they received.

These people without insurance will not get the benefit of any contractual reductions that are required by medical insurance companies or even legally mandated reductions for Medi-Cal or Medicare rates.

It’s a complicated mess once you start seeing all the bills pile up in the mailbox. Realistically you can be billed for the full amount and could be sent to collections for not paying the bills.

All of this is just another reason to call The Law Offices of Daniel Kim today for help.

What If…

You Are Responsible for the Accident

If you are the victim or if the other driver is injured, what matters most is who is at fault. If you are at fault then you will be financially liable to pay for the victim’s medical bills and car repairs.

In these instances, your insurance company will carry out its own investigation to decide the level at which you were at fault.

Before you ever get into an accident is when you need to think ahead and decide what type of insurance coverage you want, the state minimum, or do you want uninsured motorist, theft, etc.

The higher the liability you carry, the higher your insurance bills will be because you have more protection in case of an accident. One thing to remember is that by having more liability coverage, you won’t have to pay out as much when you are at fault in a car accident.

You Are the Victim of the Accident

In the case where you weren’t at fault then you need to understand how that process plays out. After an accident, you should call the police so they can document everything and make a police report.

One thing to remember is that you don’t want to say things like “I’m sorry it was my fault” at the scene.

Even if the other driver was distracted, or speeding driving for Amazon or Postmates, or whatever, it’s best to keep as quiet as possible until you contact our law firm. This can be used against you later once your accident claim is filed.

The next step is that you need to contact your own insurers about the accident, so call health insurance and car insurance agent, but of course, you can call us first if you have questions.

Then we will need to contact the other driver’s insurance company ASAP to help expedite the beginning phase of the claims process.

It takes a while to collect payments in order to pay your medical bills so keep good records of everything and let our law firm know the status of your treatment.

What to Do if the Other Driver Does Not Have Insurance

If you are hit by an uninsured driver it’s a different story altogether. The best way to be prepared for this situation is to get uninsured/underinsured auto coverage for yourself.

Having this type of policy will help you pay for any damages when you are hit by drivers without insurance. In California, it is dangerous to count on the other party to have proper insurance.

Who Will Pay for My Medical Bills?

A lot of our clients think that their lawyer will pay their medical bills until we finalize a settlement for your claim. We will keep track of all your medical treatment and bills as your accident case moves forward.

The injured person is actually responsible to pay their own bills down the road once the case has settled. The physical damage to your car can be another story – oftentimes your or the other driver’s insurance may cover that bill quickly.

With most personal injury cases the settlement process can begin once you are done getting medical treatment. If our law firm has gathered all the medical records and bills, and all those bills have been forwarded to the insurance company for review.

We do this because we want to make sure we are asking for enough compensation to cover all of your treatments and any loss. Also, negotiations are much easier and efficient when there are no unknowns (looming surgery, etc.).

Always make sure that any outstanding bills coming from medical providers are addressed and that those companies know you are dealing with an auto accident. You don’t want any mistakes to happen and have some medical bills sent to collections.

Even if the person who injured you is at fault, the law doesn’t require them to pay your medical bills on an ongoing basis.

What the law does require is that if the other driver is found at fault, then he or she must pay for your damages, obviously in a personal injury case your medical bills are a major part.

Just remember that the defendant does not have to pay your medical bills as they come in.

What is Subrogation?

If your health insurance or another type of coverage pays for your medical bills and then later you are awarded money related to those bills, the company will ask to be paid back.

This process is called subrogation and is meant in part to prevent victims from getting compensated 2 times for an injury.