Injury Claim and No Health Insurance – Maybe not a problem

Everyone knows that in our system of justice, when someone injures you due to their negligence, you may have a right to collect from them the damages you incur.  This would probably include medical treatment costs, pain and suffering, lost wages, and maybe some other stuff.

But what most people don’t appreciate until they’re in the position of a victim is that the victim initially bears the costs of their treatment.  In other words, we don’t have a “pay you as you go” sort of system, but more of an “all at the end (if you’re lucky)” kind of system.  What that means is that the person responsible for your care isn’t going to pay your bills as you incur them, but at best will reimburse you for them when it’s all said and done (future care can be different, when applicable, but that’s for another post).

So when you’re an accident victim, you have to take care of your bills until the time is right to collect from the bad guy.  That could be years and thousands of dollars later, so what do you do in the meantime?

Well, if you’re lucky you will have health insurance to bear the brunt of your treatment costs.  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/ more people than ever are covered by health insurance.  In that situation, you will have co-pays and deductibles to deal with, but more often than not that is better than paying for everything as you go.  But what about people that don’t have health insurance?

That’s a problem.  When you are catastrophically injured, the reality is that you are likely to go into debt.  There are some safety net programs (Medicaid) that might help, and many hospitals will have charity programs that can help as well.  In addition, if you’re disabled you might qualify for Medicare, though that could be a long time in the making.

When you are not catastrophically injured and have soft tissue neck and back pain, and maybe all you need is some PT or chiropractic (which describes the overwhelming majority of auto accident victims), then you won’t likely qualify for charity, but you may still be able to get the treatment you need.

Most chiropractors in North Carolina will treat you on a lien basis, meaning they will follow the law to perfect a claim on your settlement money so that all or part of their bill will have to be paid from your settlement.  For them it’s a win/win – they have faith that they will get paid in the long term, and in the meantime you get the treatment you need to help get you better.  Some Physical Therapists do this, but I don’t know of many, myself.  And I do know of one diagnostic company (X-rays, MRIs, etc.) that treats on a lien basis.

So if you’re injured in an accident and aren’t sure how to pay for treatment, call an attorney and talk to them about what options you may have.  I know one, and he’s pretty awesome.