Who is paying for my healthcare after an accident?
There is a really simple answer to this which no one is going to like, but I’m going to explain it after I give it and it should, hopefully, make you feel better.
Who is paying for your healthcare after an accident? You are.
Eek. That’s a hard pill to swallow, I know. You weren’t at fault, you didn’t cause the accident, you didn’t ask to get hurt, so why should you pay for it? It’s a systemic issue that does have a remedy. If it helps, you can think that you’re temporarily renting the bills until you get someone else to buy them. What the hell does that mean? Let me explain…
The best way to begin this analysis is to look at it is that nothing is certain until it’s certain. If you have a need for healthcare, it’s just that: A need for healthcare like any other, so you have to pay for it. If there is a liability claim against the person who caused the need for the care, then there might be a way to get reimbursed for it. But the take-home message is this: In North Carolina, there is no system set up to protect you from paying for your own health care needs following an accident that was caused by someone else. Your bills are yours until and unless you (or your attorney) can make someone else take responsibility for them.
The good news is that there IS a system for RECOVERING your losses, including medical expenses, from an accident that was someone else’s fault. But the hard bit to swallow is that you have to incur those losses first in order to recover for them. That means, for the most part, that you’re responsible for paying your bills until and unless we can make someone else responsible. But it’s a two-step process.
This can be frustrating. It can also be a difficult system to navigate. This is why there are personal injury attorneys like me. Call me at 919-929-2992.
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