If a car accident caused your personal injury, it might take months, even years before you’ve completed treatment. If the other driver caused the wreck, their insurance should pay your medical bills, but they won’t give you a penny until after your doctors say you’ve healed as much as you’re going to.

The problem is, bills start to arrive almost immediately. In no time, you’ve got a stack with totals that start to keep you up at night. If it takes months to even reach a settlement, then longer to actually receive it, what happens with your mounting medical bills?

It’s understandable why healthcare facilities don’t want to wait that long, but you can’t pay that much out of pocket. How can you keep mountains of debt off your credit while you wait for the next step in the process?

WILL YOUR PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY PAY MEDICAL BILLS?

A lot of people think that, if you have a solid personal injury case, your lawyer will pay your doctor bills until your settlement arrives. That’s incorrect.

At Monsour Law Firm, we work on a contingency fee basis. That means your initial consultation is free, and everything that happens after is at no cost to you unless you receive a settlement. If you do, our fee is a percentage. We help clients make payment arrangements when the bills start to pile up, but we don’t actually pay their doctors.

SHOULD YOU USE INSURANCE FOR MEDICAL BILLS FROM A CAR WRECK?

Some people pay extra on their car insurance for medical pay. If you do, your own auto insurance will pay at least a portion of your doctor bills for you. Most people opt not to carry that coverage, because it makes your premiums go up and let’s be honest, none of us expect to experience a car wreck or parking lot accident that causes injury.

If you don’t have that type of coverage, you can use your regular healthcare insurance to pay everything from your ambulance ride to your physical therapy. If you have Medicare or Medicaid, submit your bills to them. Once you’ve completed treatment and received your settlement, they will expect reimbursement from you out of the proceeds.

WORKING WITH YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER TO PAY LATER

Even with great insurance, medical care is expensive. The co-pay and other amounts you pay out of pocket add up fast when you need repeat visits or you have a serious injury. Insurance might not cover all the types of treatment you need to recover. And if you don’t have insurance, the bill you receive from the emergency room might be half of what you make in a year.

It’s important you receive all the medical care your doctor prescribes on schedule. Sometimes when the bills start to pile up, people quit going to the doctor because they’re afraid they won’t have the money to pay for it. The insurance company then argues they must not have been that badly hurt and uses that argument to justify paying them less.

We’ve been helping victims in Texas and Louisiana get the help they need for years. We get results, and we have an extensive network of healthcare providers who know how we work. We can help you negotiate with doctors and insurance companies to get the treatment you need while you wait for a decision on your case.

WHEN YOU RECEIVE A SETTLEMENT FOR YOUR CAR WRECK

Your personal injury settlement for a car wreck is probably going to be made up of multiple parts. You’ll receive an amount you use to pay your doctor bills based on the receipts and other records we’ve kept during treatment and submitted as evidence. Car accident victims also frequently receive an amount for pain and suffering. A separate portion of your settlement covers property damage to your vehicle and its contents. You might also receive compensation for time off work and inconvenience.

Here’s where our clients find an unexpected benefit. You’ll need to pay your insurance company or doctors out of the funds you receive, but often we can negotiate a discount. The rest of the money goes in your pocket, minus attorney’s fees.

It doesn’t cost anything to talk about your case. If a car wreck caused your injury, schedule a no-obligation consultation today.