Does Health Insurance Cover Medical Bills after Car accidents?
It is commonly observed that the very word of insurance seems to be taking all the pains and losses away from you by compensating for those losses. However, the irony is that you have to take pains first to understand the science involved in the various insurance plans and policies. For instance, if you are on a long-distance road trip on your brand new dashing motorcar and unfortunately you meet a horrible accident, then you will not be certain about whom you should claim for the breakdown of your favourite car and the bodily injuries that you have just received. You have to reconfirm whether it is your liability insurance or other driver’s liability insurance that will pay for your injuries after the car incident. Besides, you will also think about your own health insurance whether it would come into effect to pay for the medical bills for a car accident injury or not?
If you are curious to know about the fact whether your Health Insurance covers Medical Bills after Car accidents or not, then keep reading the article till the end to satisfy each query that comes to your mind related to the topic under consideration.
Possible Insurance Options for Car Accident Injuries
Let us first explore the possible insurance options that can make payment for your medical bills in case of receiving some road accident injuries. There are multiple options:
- Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
- Medical Payments (MedPay)
- Health Insurance
Let us explore all the three one by one as to know how they are going to benefit you if you are injured in a car accident.
1. Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is a magical feature that normally comes along with auto insurance. However, it is optional (in seven states, while mandatory in the other 12 states) to be availed by the auto insurance plan buyers. In our honest opinion, the auto insurance buyers are sincerely advised to go for availing this budget-saving instant Personal Injury Protection option. This plan is designed to reimburse all the medical costs and some other costs (like if you have lost income) during any road accident. The best thing about this plan is that you will readily get your payments reimbursed as soon as you register your claim to the insurance provider.
However, in other liability insurances, you are not fully covered for the medical bills payment after road accidents. Moreover, you are not enquired about whether the accident occurred because of your fault or the other driver’s fault, as it is investigated in other liability insurances. So it is advisable to go for availing this option without wasting much time instantly.
2. Medical Payment (MedPay)
Medical Payment (MedPay) is again a similar auxiliary auto insurance option that covers the expenses that one has to bear on medical treatment or funeral ceremonies due to some serious road accident injuries. However, it doesn’t provide coverage for the lost income during the accident. Normally, auto insurance agents sell this plan under the name of an add-on to PIP. That is why it is thought to be a less expensive medical treatment insurance option as compared to that of PIP. MedPay is mandatory in only three states. In the other states where MedPay is optional, you can’t opt for MedPay and PIP simultaneously, but you can opt for both the options simultaneously where it is mandatory.
3. Insurance for Health
Your health insurance will pay for any medical expenses incurred as a result of a car accident if you do not have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) or MedPay as an optional coverage plan.
If you live in a state that allows tort claims, your alternative option is to file a claim for compensation with the insurance of the negligent motorist.
The investigation to determine which driver was at fault, however, takes a lot of time.
As a result, your refund may take a bit longer, and there is no guarantee that you will receive money back for paying your medical expenditures.
How to avail Health Insurance for Car Accident Injuries?
In order to avail of health insurance coverage for the payment of your medical bills due to a car accident injury, you can approach your health insurance provider to reimburse the amount for the payment you have made for your medical expenditure. The health insurance agency would ask you for the submission of all the medical certificates and necessary documents related to your medical treatment after a road accident injury. However, you can also go for availing the compensation from the liability insurance of the other person.
In such a case, your health insurance provider has the right to reimburse health expenses that they incurred through a process named as subrogation.
Subrogation is a special term that is customarily used in the field of health insurance, and it refers to the health insurance agency’s right to reimburse the payment of the medical bills if you have got the payment for your health expenditure from any other insurance options, like if you have received compensation from the liability insurance. In such a case, your health insurance provider has the authority to claim payment for your medical bills from your liability insurance on your behalf, even if you have not claimed for liability by yourself. So you should be aware of every nitty-gritty of the subject under discussion.
Notable Considerations
When you are presented with so many insurance options available, it becomes hard for you to select the best and reject the rest. In fact, it becomes an overwhelming situation where you find yourself on the fence to decide on the most suitable, affordable and profitable option that may help you in the near future or even in the distant future. So here we are going to discuss wise evaluation criteria through some notable considerations for the selection of the best possible health insurance option to cover the medical bills payment after a road accident.
1. Health Insurance or PIP
“This” or “that” are the doubtful expressions which hit your mind when you contemplate upon the available options for your medical bills payment in case of a serious road accident. However, you need to adopt a wise approach to make a profitable decision before time. It is advisable to go for PIP or MedPay instead of claiming your health insurance. There are mainly two reasons behind this recommendation;
- When you claim for the payment of your medical bills to your health insurance provider, you will probably be charged for out-of-pocket deductibles. Nonetheless, in case you are availing of the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance options and claim for the reimbursement of the medical expenditure that you have borne for the treatment of physical injuries you received in a road accident, it will readily reimburse you the required amount in negligible time. Moreover, the health insurance provider would also take a long time while confirm the real cause and fault responsible for the accident.
- Secondly, your Health Insurance Provider holds an option of subrogation through which he reserves the right to reimburse any payment it has paid for your medical expenditure and at the same time, you also get compensation from some other liability insurance. Your Health Insurance Provider even reserves the right to claim liability for compensating your medical bills on your behalf.
So both the above facts suggest that one should first go for a PIP Plan before going for health insurance. It is because the PIP Plans are more attractive, catchy, affordable, profitable and offer instant reimbursement before any unnecessary delay.
What if you’ve got both “Health Insurance” and “PIP” at the same time?
There is a possibility that you may hold the health coverage plans by both, i.e. Health Insurance Provider and Personal Health Protection (PIP), at the same time. It often happens when your auto insurance provider and your health insurance provider are working in collaboration with each other. They will easily decide which one of them has to make reimbursement for the medical expenses that you have paid for your treatment after a car accident. Additionally, if you have opted for PIP too in your auto insurance plan, then you have to pay fewer premium costs collectively for both; your health insurance and your auto insurance (Including PIP).
2. PIP or MedPay
Another sensible question that may come into the minds of insurance buyers is whether to opt for PIP or MedPay. Which one will be more advantageous to them in the long run? Which one provides more possibilities for financial assistance when it is required? Which of the two requires the buyers to pay a lower monthly premium? So all these doubts need clarity of thought so that you may decide on the better option with almost zero fears and concerns in your mind.
With respect to the coverages they offer, PIP and MedPay are quite similar in their function and purpose. Both the options are there to help you pay your medical bills in case of receiving a serious bodily injury in a road accident. Both the options would facilitate you in paying deductibles on your health insurance. It is unfortunate and fortunate, too at the same time to say that both PIP and MedPay are aimed at providing financial assistance for the smooth organization of someone’s funeral ceremony. It is apart from any doubt that funeral occasions never come with prior permissions; instead, they always come to you uninvitedly. Amidst all chaos and gloom, you also need a decent amount to keep the funeral proceedings going in a smooth way. Therefore, you would always require some budget for that reason. Here comes the PIP and MedPay to give you a sigh of relief in the most gloomy (and embarrassing if you fail in organizing the funeral ceremony successfully) moments of your life. Both these plans will cover the expenditure that came on the funeral.
Another helpful feature of MedPay and PIP is that they offer financial coverage for the medical treatment for all the passengers accompanying you in your car at the time of the accident. If they have got any bodily injuries, then PIP and MedPay are likely to pay for their medical expenditures as well.
However, the difference between the two is that the PIP also covers for your lost income because of any serious injury or disability that you have got in a road accident. If you have broken your leg or an arm, then it’s nearly impossible for you to join your work for a few months. Resultantly, you are very likely to lose your wages (if your employer is not kind enough). In that worst-case scenario, the PIP comes into effect to help you out in this darker and poorer phase of your life.
A Conclusion:
To conclude, it is suggested to always prepare for the rainy days before they just appear from nowhere as they often come unexpectedly. It is wisely said that ‘A danger foreseen is half avoided. Therefore, the need of the time is to think about your safe and secure future seriously.
In this age of modernization, not only cars are running there on the roads, but they bring your body and soul too to the trickiest and the busiest of the roads. So in parallel with the health and life of your car, think about your personal health and life too. Therefore, the article gives a comprehensive insight on the importance and available options for the health insurance whether it covers the payment of medical bills due to a car accident.