Chiropractic Cost in Your Personal Injury Claim
Many clients seek chiropractic care after they are injured in an auto accident. Contrary to popular belief, this is not because attorneys send them. Yes, there may be some of that here and there, but I can tell you that as a matter of course, I never dictate treatment decisions for clients. Your health care is your business, and I am not qualified to give you advice as to what treatment would be best for you.
The only time I give advice that skirts on medical advice is explaining how your medical care decisions affect the value of your claim. This is kind of a big deal.
Clearly, getting better is your Number 1 priority. But reality dictates that your finances may govern what kind of care you can seek. What many people don’t know is that in a liability state like North Carolina, your health care is your problem until it’s not; there is no pay as you go from liability insurance. So you’re on the hook for your on care until you’re done, and THEN we try to get you paid back.
There are tons of treatment options out there, but different offices have different billing practices which can affect where people go.
Many people choose chiropractic care for two main reasons: 1) Chiropractors specialize in the treatment of soft tissue paraspinal injuries, which are what most people suffer from after a car accident, and; 2) chiropractors treat patients – most of the time! – on a lien basis.
What does that mean? A lien is a statutory right of recovery against a certain identifiable set of funds. In this case, what it means is that by following the law, the chiropractor has a right to get paid from your settlement. This is to protect them for treating you essentially for free up front, but it also is helpful to you in that you don’t have out of pocket expenses for chiropractor care as you move through recovery and treatment. That’s a HUGE deal. With other treatment modalities, even when they take health insurance, you have co-pays that can quickly become prohibitively expensive and can diminish your care and therefore slow your recovery. By treating you on a lien basis, the chiropractors are kindly eliminating the financial aspect of your treatment decision and taking on the risk of the costs of that treatment. Do ALL chiropractors do this? No, not all of them. But many – I dare so most – do this form of payment arrangement, so if it’s not being presented to you as an option, you should maybe be looking around.
Should payment arrangements dictate what kind of treatment you get? Not necessarily. But it can clearly be a factor if you aren’t made of money, and I personally don’t know many people that are. So I can see why so many people choose this form of care over other more traditional yet more expensive options.
And remember, if you’re hurt in an auto accident, make sure you call me ASAP at 919-929-2992.
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