If you are injured in a car crash or truck accident, how do your medical bills get paid? Who pays your medical bills? It’s a multi-step process, and can get complicated. Here’s how it works:
- In Florida, your car insurance will pay for 80% of your medical bills, up to $10,000 (only $2,500 if an emergency isn’t evident). This is called Personal Injury Protection (PIP). Florida is a “no-fault” state. This doesn’t mean that in a car crash no one is at fault! “No fault” means that no matter who causes the crash, your insurance company will be your first line of defense in paying your medical bills. Florida also requires that you seek treatment for your injuries within 14 days of your accident in order for PIP to pay out.
- It is important to note that Georgia does not require PIP or another type of medical payment coverage. You need to ask your car insurance company to add it on.
- Your health insurance will only pay after your auto insurance has made payments first. If you have already reached the $10,000 limit, your health insurance will need documentation from your car insurance company that the PIP limits have been exhausted before they will accept medical charges. If you do not have health insurance, you will have a 20% balance left over after your car insurance pays and a 100% balance leftover once your PIP limits are exhausted. That balance will remain until you pay it off yourself or we settle with the at-fault insurance company and pay the medical provider out of the settlement.
If you hire an attorney at Fasig, and Brooks, our office will help you coordinate between your medical provider, car insurance company, and health insurance company to assure your bills are being handled appropriately. Call us now at (850) 222-3232 for a free consultation.
