How to Handle Medical Bills after a Louisiana Car Accident
The influx of medical bills can overwhelm injured victims of car accidents. The bills start rolling in from the emergency room doctor, hospital, and radiology department. Then, if your injuries are serious, more bills arrive from follow-up visits, additional medical tests, medication, physical therapy and chiropractic care. All of these expenses become too much for the injured victim to bear. These bills pile up, become delinquent, are placed in collections and impact the injured victim’s credit score. He or she is left in financial distress and with a negative impact on his/her credit report. This scenario happens one too many times among injured victims of car accidents, simply because they do not know their rights and responsibilities.
You are responsible for paying your medical bills as you incur them. It is recommended that an injured victim of a car accident hire a lawyer to help through the process of recovering damages. Our Louisiana car accident attorneys will help ensure your bills are paid, that everything is done legally and efficiently, and that you obtain compensation to which you are legally entitled. Louisiana is a fault state, so whoever is determined to be legally at fault in a car crash is responsible for injuries and property damage. In most cases, that driver’s insurance company will handle the damages. The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles requires drivers to have minimum insurance levels. You can file a personal injury lawsuit with one of our attorneys at Joseph Joy & Associates law firm if the negligent driver’s insurance coverage is not enough to cover your injuries.
In the meantime, you should send your attorney a copy of any bill you receive for your medical treatment. Your attorney’s office also will keep track of your medical bills to know the total amount incurred and where you received medical treatment. You should inform your attorney about your visits to the doctor and you are released from that doctor despite that your attorney will have access to your medical records during the case. Once your treatment is complete, your attorney will submit them to the responsible party’s insurance company. Again, this process does not mean that you do not have to your bills.
Your health insurer will pay your medical bills if you have health insurance, leaving with co-pays, depending on your deductibles. If you are on Medicare or a health insurance program through Louisiana Medicaid, those entities will pay the bills. You are responsible for paying the bills out-of-pocket if you do not have any form of insurance coverage. Not taking any action and allowing your bills to pile up if you cannot afford to pay them is not a good idea. Try reaching out to your medical providers to put your account on hold or on payment plan options until you receive your settlement to pay them out. This will help avoid bills being placed in collections and hurting your credit score.
Sometimes, insurance companies won’t take you seriously until you show that you are willing and able to file a lawsuit for your claim. They are working against you and may delay your claim for as long as they can to pay you the least amount as possible. Hiring a lawyer shows that you mean business, resulting in a more favorable outcome. Our attorneys have more than 40 years of experience handling communication with insurance companies, calculating damages, negotiating fair settlements and filing lawsuits when settlements could not be reached.
When you retain our services to represent you in a Louisiana car accident case, we will work immediately to obtain the settlement you need for your full recovery. Call our office now at 337-232-8123 or visit us at 900 S. College Rd., Lafayette, LA and tell our Louisiana car accident attorneys about your car accident and your injuries.
