Who Pays for Your Medical Bills After a Truck Accident?

Being involved in a truck accident quite frequently results in personal injuries requiring medical care and treatment. One common concern injured people have is who is financially responsible for paying for their medical bills. In general, you are responsible for paying all of your medical bills regardless of who was at fault for causing the accident.

However, you could be entitled to receive monetary compensation from the responsible party and their insurance company. In order to ensure you receive a fair settlement, it is highly recommended to seek assistance from a qualified truck accident lawyer in your area.

How Auto Insurance Pays for Medical Bills

Most people have insurance policies that have some form of personal liability coverage. This coverage is to cover injuries you cause to another person. Your policy may also have injury coverage for yourself, if you have full coverage insurance.

Initially, since the claims process can take a while to reach a fair settlement, you will be financially responsible for paying your medical bills. You could work out a payment arrangement with your healthcare providers, take out a loan through your personal injury lawyer if offered, or use your health insurance.

There can be caps on the amount of money insurance companies will pay out toward medical bills. Once this cap is reached, then your health insurance will kick in to pay for additional care and treatment, minus any copays or deductibles.

When Health Insurance Will Pay for Accident Related Medical Bills

You can use your health insurance initially to pay for accident-related medical bills. Your health insurance provider and the auto insurance company will work together to ensure your health insurance provider is reimbursed for any payments they made.

It is important to remember you cannot be paid twice for the same medical claims by both your health insurance provider and auto insurance company. In addition, if you have exhausted all of your auto insurance medical care coverage and start using health insurance to help pay for medical bills, you will have to reimburse your health insurance once you reach a final settlement with the auto insurance company.

How Your Truck Accident Settlement Is Divided

Once you receive your truck accident settlement, the proceeds are divided up before you receive the remaining balance. Typically, settlements are divided as follows:

• Accident Injury Lawyer: Your accident injury lawyer will take a percentage of the settlement amount for helping you negotiate a fair and just settlement.
• Health Insurance: You will need to pay back any payments your health insurance made for medical bills while awaiting your settlement up to your auto insurance coverage limit.
• Loan Repayment: If you took out a loan to pay for your medical bills through your injury lawyer, you will pay off the loan out of your settlement.
• Unpaid Medical Bills: Any outstanding unpaid medical bills should also be paid once you receive your settlement.
• Remaining Balance to You: After all of your outstanding financial obligations related to your truck accident are paid, you receive the remaining balance.

Navigating the claims process after a truck accident can be complex when you have experienced personal injuries. In order to receive the best settlement offer, you need to get help from an auto accident attorney.

Most attorneys offer a free consultation to review your case and provide you with sound legal advice. Please feel free to contact Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers for a free consultation today with our Houston truck accident lawyers!