Does Health Insurance Cover Car Accident Injuries?

Obtaining timely and competent medical care is vital after a car accident. Without care, many minor conditions could worsen until a person can no longer go to work or even get out of bed. 

However, how does a car accident victim pay for this care? And does health insurance cover car accident injuries? The answer is “yes,” but the full answer can be more complicated than that.

Check Your Policy

Health insurance is a contract, and your insurer will identify what illnesses or injuries are and are not covered. The good news is that your insurance should cover car accident injuries, subject to other factors, including whether you have other coverage that is considered primary, such as medical/ payment insurance under your automobile insurance policy.  This means you should present your insurance card at the emergency room or doctor’s office, as well as any other medical insurance you have while you investigate which insurance will apply and in what order it will be applied. Your health insurance may have a deductible and co-payment provisions that will have to be factored in.   

Also check what medical treatments your insurance covers:

• Surgery
• Hospital stays
• Doctor visits
• Prescription drugs
• Prosthetics
• Rehabilitation
• Mental health counseling

Your Insurer May Have a Right of Subrogation

Even if your insurer covers car accident injuries, the reality is that your insurer probably reserved to itself a right of subrogation. This right gives the insurer the ability to seek reimbursement out of any settlement or jury verdict that you recover for the accident.

So for example, if  you need surgery and rehabilitation after a bad T-bone collision and your total medical bills are \$100,000, and your insurance picks up \$60,000, and you reach a settlement for the accident, then your insurer may have a right to get reimbursed for the \$60,000 it spent on your medical treatment.

Even Medicare and Medicaid reserve the right to subrogation. You will need to keep your insurer updated about your medical care and how your case for compensation is proceeding.

No Right of Subrogation for Medical Payments Coverage

Many Colorado drivers have medical payments coverage, which is no-fault insurance that pays for medical treatment after an accident. Previously, insurers could seek reimbursement for all payments made under your medical payments policy.  Colorado has passed laws, however, that eliminate the right of automobile insurers to recover medical payment benefits that they pay out.

Contact Our Office Today

If you have been injured in an accident, please contact McCormick & Murphy, P.C. today. Our lawyers are well versed in these laws and can reduce the amount an insurer seeks for reimbursement. Please contact us to schedule a free consultation.