If you or a loved one have been injured in a car crash, it is likely you will need to seek medical treatment.
Your medical bills should be turned into your health insurance before medical pay coverage from your auto insurance is applied. Submitting your bills to health insurance first will often save you money because your health insurance (which you already pay for) has and will negotiate with the hospital to reduce the amount of the expenses. After your health insurance pays the claims, then notify your auto insurance of the co-pays or balances that still need to be paid.
We recently had a case where a young mother was severely injured in a car crash and spent several weeks in the hospital. Her family and friends were focused on providing her with love and support and no one paid attention to what was happening with the hospital bills. When she was finally released from the hospital she discovered that the hospital had filed a lien for over $60,000.00 in medical expenses.
While Indiana laws do allow the hospital to file a lien for medical expenses, there are many requirements that must be followed in order for the lien to be valid. Often discussions with your health insurance provider and the hospital regarding these requirements can lead to drastically reducing the lien amount.
If you or a loved one is injured in a car crash, we welcome you to sit down with us early on for a free consultation so that we can talk to you about how to best reduce your medical bills. By addressing this issue early, we can help you reduce the bills so that when a settlement or judgment is reached in your case, this money goes to taking care of you and your family.