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Will Your Health Insurance Cover Injuries Caused by a Car Accident?

If you have been injured by another driver’s negligence in a car accident, you need professional medical attention to reach your most complete recovery, but deciphering how you’ll pay for your ongoing care and treatment is likely to be daunting. Many people wonder if turning solely to their own health insurance is the best path forward, but this strategy isn’t likely to cover your full range of accident-associated damages. If another driver’s negligence leaves you injured in a car accident, you need the professional legal counsel of an experienced Clearwater car accident attorney in your corner.

Your Health Insurance Coverage

Car accident claims are often quite complicated and can be slow to provide you with compensation. In the meantime, your medical bills are very likely to be mounting. As such, it is very common – and even advisable – to pay for these expenses through your health insurance coverage. There are, however, some important points to keep in mind, and these include that health insurance covers only your covered medical expenses and that you likely have an out-of-pocket deductible that may be quite high. In other words, you’ll likely need to engage your health insurance coverage in addition to filing a car insurance claim.

Your Damages

The damages you incur as a result of a car accident are likely to be extensive and can include all of the following:

  • Your medical expenses
  • Your lost earnings
  • Your physical and emotional damages

Your health insurance policy will only cover your medical bills and other sanctioned medical expenses, such as prescription medications and adaptive physical devices. Your coverage may not address additional medical-related expenses, such as chiropractic care and alternative forms of pain management. Further, only a car insurance claim can compensate you for your lost wages on the job and for your physical and emotional pain and suffering, which can amount to very costly and difficult obstacles to overcome. 

Subrogation

While your health insurance company will pay the covered medical expenses you incur in a car accident caused by someone else’s negligence, it expects to be paid back for these costs if your car accident claim eventually compensates you for the same expenses. This is known as subrogation, and it refers to the insurance company’s right to pursue compensation for damages that you incurred (and it covered) as a result of someone else’s negligence.

In other words, you can’t be compensated twice for the same medical expenses. Ultimately, you will either be required to repay your health insurance provider from your settlement (or court-ordered compensation), or your health insurance provider will pursue this compensation on your behalf.

Reach out to an Experienced Clearwater Car Accident Attorney Today

If you’ve been injured as a result of another motorist’s negligence, the resourceful Clearwater car accident attorneys at Tragos, Sartes & Tragos are well prepared to help bring the strongest possible claim in support of the compensation to which you are entitled. Your case is important, so please don’t hesitate to contact us online or call us at (727) 441-9030 for more information today.