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After an accident where you are at fault, you shouldn’t delay medical care for your injuries because of concern over how to pay your medical bills. That’s where medical payments insurance coverage comes in – getting medical payments insurance coverage is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself in these situations.
Auto Insurance Policy
Review your auto insurance policy to find out whether you have auto insurance medical payments coverage. Your insurance information is summarized on a document called a declaration page (or “dec page”). The dec page is usually on the front of your insurance policy. You can access your dec page:
- In your online account for your insurance company; or
- In the documents the insurance company provided when you purchased or renewed your auto insurance policy; or
- By contacting your insurance company; or
- By contacting your insurance agent (if purchased through an agent)
Medical Payments Insurance Coverage
If your auto insurance includes medical payments insurance coverage (also called “medical expense coverage” or “med pay”), the policy will pay medical expenses incurred by you, your passengers, or your family members driving your car when involved in an accident. Medical payments insurance coverage also applies if you are walking or riding a bike and are injured by another driver.
One of the best parts about medical payments coverage is that the policy will pay even if you caused the accident. This means that there is no long battle between insurance companies and lawyers about who caused the accident before medical bills are paid.
Medical payments coverage is optional in Georgia but keep reading for more reasons why you should include this coverage with your auto insurance policy.
Bodily Injury Liability Insurance vs. Medical Payments Coverage
Bodily injury liability insurance coverage, mandatory in Georgia, pays for the other party’s medical expenses in accidents that you cause, but not medical expenses for you or your passengers. If another party is at fault when they hit you in an accident, their bodily injury liability insurance pays for injuries to you and your passengers.
From this explanation, it is clear that you can be left exposed to pay for medical expenses for yourself and your passengers even if both parties in an accident have bodily injury liability insurance. Medical payments insurance coverage fills that gap by paying medical expenses for you and your passengers when you are at fault.
Is Medical Payments Insurance Coverage Needed if I Have Health Insurance?
Your personal health insurance and medical payments coverage work hand in hand, depending on how both insurance policies are written. Consider these three scenarios:
- If your medical payments coverage is your primary healthcare coverage, the auto insurance company will cover your healthcare costs up to the policy limits. Medical payments coverage covers medical and funeral expenses soon after an accident, but it does not replace health insurance.
- If your medical payments coverage is secondary coverage, then your health insurance would pay for your medical bills, and your medical payments coverage would pay for amounts that your health insurance policy does not cover, such as deductibles and for example, let’s say your post-accident medical care for an injured arm costs $20,000. Your health insurance covers the cost of the care except for $750 for doctor visit co-pays, $1,250 for a hospital visit co-pay, and your $2,000 policy deductible (total of $4,000). Your medical payments coverage covers that $4,000 amount. Without medical payments coverage, you would be responsible for the $4,000 payment as an out-of-pocket cost.
- Some healthcare insurance policies do not cover injuries related to a car accident where you are at. Medical payments coverage would pay for that medical treatment.
What Medical Payments Coverage Covers?
Medical payments coverage can pay for any expenses incurred by you and your passengers after an accident, depending on your actual policy terms:
- Doctor visits
- Hospital visits
- Surgery
- X-rays
- Prosthetics
- Dental care
- Chiropractic treatment
- Ambulance fees
- Nursing care
- Health insurance deductibles
- Health insurance co-pay amounts
- Funeral expenses
Save Your Friendships!
Consider the scenario where you are driving your friends to a movie. Your car is an accident, your friends are injured, and it was your fault. Who pays for medical costs related to your friends’ injuries? Your passengers’ health insurance may pay for some of the costs. But, like with your own expense, your friends may have to pay for some costs like deductibles, co-pays, and amounts not covered by insurance. This is where your medical payments insurance coverage policy can cover those costs.
Contact the Injury and Accident Attorneys at the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm
Getting hurt in an accident is frightening. Trying to recover payment from your own insurance company to cover your medical and other expenses shouldn’t be. Call the attorneys at CEO Lawyer for a free consultation about your recovery. We will work hard to get you your maximum recovery.