After you are in a car, truck, or 18-wheeler wreck, you will need medical treatment so you can heal. But it is expensive and you may not know how to get your medical bills paid. You naturally assume that the other driver and their insurance company are going to pay them quickly.
But it can take some time for the possible payers — the other driver’s automobile insurance, your health insurance, your car insurance, and others — to decide if they are going to pay you. Then they have to look at the medical records and medical bills and decide how much they want to pay. This is often a slow, complicated, and unfair process that affects every car and truck collision.
Unfortunately injured people need to wait to negotiate a settlement or obtain a jury verdict until the possible payers obtain this information:
- what their injuries are,
- whether he or she needs surgery,
- how much their medical bills and lost wages are,
- how much pain they have and will experience, and
- if they have suffered other damages.
This can take months to determine. But in the meantime, medical bills and then threatening FINAL NOTICE letters arrive. There is often a conflict between the injured person physically recovering from their injuries and not being harassed by bill collectors. What is the solution?
In our last post we discussed some ways you can have your hospital, doctor, and other expenses paid after you were injured in a car or truck crash in Texas.
This is such an important topic that we wanted to give you more useful ideas.
More resources to get your medical bills paid or deferred
You need to know up-front that this process is not easy. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and more than one source of funds is usually needed. You will have access to some of the following resources but not others.
Start with your job benefits:
1. Short and long-term disability plans
Some companies offer to pay their employees two-thirds of their weekly wages and many of their medical bills if they cannot perform their job duties.
2. Unemployment benefits
If you lose your job, you should file for compensation through the Texas Workforce Commission.
3. Workers compensation or in-house plans
If the car or truck crash happened while you were driving while performing a job duty, for example while making a delivery, your company often has an insurance policy or similar program that will pay some of your medical bills and lost wages.
See if you qualify for any government programs:
4. Medicare
5. Medicaid
Depending on your age and income status, these federal and state reimbursement programs can help get your medical bills paid.
Note: repayment is often required
Use other solutions:
6. Letters of protection
Your accident lawyer can arrange delayed payments with certain medical providers. The advantage is that you do not have to pay your doctors out of your own funds until the settlement check arrives. At that time, they can often reduce those medical bills, again saving you a lot of money.
7. Installment agreements
Almost every hospital or doctor will allow the patient to make small payments while their case is pending. We always recommend that our clients pay even $10 a month so the provider know that it will get paid later. That way you can continue to receive treatment and your credit is not hurt.
8. Hardship arrangements
Some facilities will allow the patient to pay a reduced cash amount and they will write off the balance.
9. Loans
We strongly advise our clients not to apply for the super high interest loans you see advertised on television and on the internet.
In emergency cases, our office will make zero percent (0%) interest loans to our clients to pay medical or living expenses.
10. Complaints about medical billing
Calling or writing the medical provider if you believe that you have been overcharged or the services were inadequate may assist you.
The Texas Department of Insurance has some useful resources including
The Texas Department of State Health and the Texas Medical Board also investigate complaints against hospital and doctor for over billing.
A good car accident lawyer will help you put together the pieces of your jigsaw puzzle.
Mr. Berenson is one of the top-rated personal injury attorneys in North Texas. He only represents people who have been injured in car, truck, and 18-wheeler collisions. Contact him if you have any questions about your injury claim.