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Friday, August 22, 2008
Can the Auto Insurance Company Pay You Directly For Your Medical Expenses?
Sooner or later, we all get into car accidents. Statistically, it is nearly impossible for anyone who drives or rides in a vehicle to not be involved in a car accident at some point. While the accident itself is certainly jarring and scary, the situation becomes much worse when injuries are involved. When people in any of the vehicles are injured, the insurance companies must step in and cover the cost of their injuries.
A problem often arises in these cases, in that the injured party is not sure about how to go about getting their medical services paid for. In general, the best thing to do is to speak to an agent of the insurer. That is, call the insurance company that is paying for the expenses and ask them. Usually, you will not have to handle any money or checks. You will just be signing some documents and the like.
So the easiest answer to the question "Can the insurance company pay me directly for my medical expenses or do they have to pay the doctor?" is no. Usually, one of two things happens. You either use your medical insurance to pay for the expenses and your auto insurance provider compensates your medical insurance provider or the at fault party's auto insurance provider will pay the doctor directly. Either way, you won't be getting a check in the mail in all likelihood.
The first option, in which you use your medical insurance policy to cover your injuries and your medical provider is compensated by your auto insurance provider, is called subrogation. Subrogation is essentially a legal term that means that your insurance company is acting on your behalf to seek reimbursement for damages. In simple terms, since your auto insurance (or the other driver's, if they were at fault) should have covered your medical bills, your medical insurance provider is looking to be reimbursed for the money they paid out to cover your medical bills. They should not have had to pay those bills, and now they want their money back. If you were at fault, of course, this is contingent on whether or not you have proper coverage in your auto policy for personal injury. If not, you will have to use your medical insurance policy instead.
The other option is that the auto insurance provider pays the doctor directly. Although this is not usually a problem, sometimes there is enough red tape and bureaucracy that this process gets delayed and you end up using the first option. Some insurance companies, however, stay on top of things and get this process handled quickly. As always, if you want these things to get handled in a timely manner, you need to call you insurance company immediately after an accident in order to get the ball rolling. As before, you should only be required to sign a few forms as the insurance covers the rest.
In the end, you really can't "double dip" on your insurance. The insurance companies have this all worked out and they do communicate with each other all the time. The best thing you can do is call your provider after an accident, ask the appropriate questions and let them do the rest.
A problem often arises in these cases, in that the injured party is not sure about how to go about getting their medical services paid for. In general, the best thing to do is to speak to an agent of the insurer. That is, call the insurance company that is paying for the expenses and ask them. Usually, you will not have to handle any money or checks. You will just be signing some documents and the like.
So the easiest answer to the question "Can the insurance company pay me directly for my medical expenses or do they have to pay the doctor?" is no. Usually, one of two things happens. You either use your medical insurance to pay for the expenses and your auto insurance provider compensates your medical insurance provider or the at fault party's auto insurance provider will pay the doctor directly. Either way, you won't be getting a check in the mail in all likelihood.
The first option, in which you use your medical insurance policy to cover your injuries and your medical provider is compensated by your auto insurance provider, is called subrogation. Subrogation is essentially a legal term that means that your insurance company is acting on your behalf to seek reimbursement for damages. In simple terms, since your auto insurance (or the other driver's, if they were at fault) should have covered your medical bills, your medical insurance provider is looking to be reimbursed for the money they paid out to cover your medical bills. They should not have had to pay those bills, and now they want their money back. If you were at fault, of course, this is contingent on whether or not you have proper coverage in your auto policy for personal injury. If not, you will have to use your medical insurance policy instead.
The other option is that the auto insurance provider pays the doctor directly. Although this is not usually a problem, sometimes there is enough red tape and bureaucracy that this process gets delayed and you end up using the first option. Some insurance companies, however, stay on top of things and get this process handled quickly. As always, if you want these things to get handled in a timely manner, you need to call you insurance company immediately after an accident in order to get the ball rolling. As before, you should only be required to sign a few forms as the insurance covers the rest.
In the end, you really can't "double dip" on your insurance. The insurance companies have this all worked out and they do communicate with each other all the time. The best thing you can do is call your provider after an accident, ask the appropriate questions and let them do the rest.
# posted by gopi @ 11:37 PM 
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