How Can My Medical Bills be Paid Through Auto Insurance?

medical auto insurance coverageAuto insurance is important to all drivers because it provides a way to repair the damages done to vehicles and other types of property if they happen to be involved in an accident. As drivers purchase liability auto insurance to protect them from paying for accident-related expenses, they might begin to wonder about bodily injuries and medical expenses arising from an accident. How would those expenses be paid? Everyone knows how expensive medical bills can be, and if you don’t have health insurance those bills are even higher to pay. There is a way for drivers to purchase insurance through their auto insurance company for accident-related medical bills.

Imagining the high stress that comes from collecting the bills and paying for auto repairs can help anyone see that paying for an accident can be costly. Add to that the cost of injuries — co-pays for doctors and hospital visits, x-rays, medicine and pain killers, or even surgeries for all of the injured people in your vehicle. Think about how often you drive a carpool and realize that you could also be responsible for their medical bills as well. Unfortunately your health insurance won’t cover them since they are not members of your family or health insurance policy. All drivers hope for the best that no bodily injuries will happen in the event of an accident, but chances are, if the car gets hurt the people inside will too.

There are a few things to know about auto insurance covering medical bills before you start your search to find a way to help pay for accident-related medical auto insurance bills. First of all, you need to know if your state follows a tort law or a no-fault law. Some states follow a tort law, where the driver who is found to be at-fault for the accident will be responsible to pay for the medical expenses of the other driver and passengers. Other states follow a no-fault law, where each driver is responsible for their own medical bills, regardless of who caused the accident. There are also states that allow the driver to choose which type of law they would like to purchase. Knowing what type of law your state follows may help you in determining how much insurance to purchase regarding medical expenses.

By law all drivers must carry a set minimum amount of liability insurance that is determined by the state. This liability insurance is referred to as bodily injury per person and per accident. This coverage is required so anyone who causes an accident can pay for the bodily damages inflicted on the other driver through their insurance company. If you drive, you should have bodily injury as part of your auto insurance policy. This coverage aids in providing medical help to the other party. But if you become injured from the accident, your bodily injury coverage on your policy will not pay for your medical expenses or the medical expenses of any of your passengers.

Some people feel their health insurance will be enough to pay for any medical injuries that occur in an accident. While these drivers may have enough health insurance to rely on, other drivers may not have a sufficient amount of health insurance or not carry any at all. For those drivers who feel they are not covered enough through their health insurance and want to either supplement their health insurance with something else or purchase insurance so they’ll have coverage for medical bills in an accident, there are additional coverage options that can be purchased from their auto insurance company and added to their auto insurance policy. These are known as personal injury protection and medical payments.

Personal injury protection is a coverage that can be purchased from your auto insurance company that will pay for your medical needs that occur as a result of an accident. The exact coverage provided through each auto insurance company may vary slightly, but most companies offer the following through personal injury protection to a limit. Medical expenses, including hospital costs, are covered, as well as funeral expenses for the policyholder and members of the policy. This coverage is also beneficial and provides medical help if you are a pedestrian who is hit by a vehicle. If you are a driver who frequently hosts a carpool you will want to consider this coverage because it provides coverage for not just members of your policy or household, but also for the passengers who are in your vehicle at the time of the accident up to the amount you’ve purchased. Some states require the purchase of personal injury protection along with the usual liability requirements.

Another way to help pay for medical costs through your auto insurance policy is by adding a coverage known as medical payments to your policy. Medical payments is similar to personal injury protection as it too covers the medical expenses of you and your passengers who become injured in an accident, as well as if you are struck by a vehicle as a pedestrian. Medical payments also covers medical expenses of the policyholder or other members of their household while riding in another person’s vehicle and getting injured in an accident. Compare the details of your health insurance to what would be covered by medical payments from your auto insurer and see if it would be worth purchasing this extra coverage.

It is both wise and comforting to know that in the event of an accident, you and your family members would be able to get and afford the medical help needed to make a full recovery. Knowing the type of medical coverage that is available to you before you need to utilize it will ensure that you are not duplicating coverage and spending more money than necessary for it. Also, researching what you have will help you realize any additional insurance you may need to purchase to be able to afford any future medical bills from an accident. Auto insurance companies offer not only the help you will need to pay for property or vehicular repairs, but also ways to pay for the bodily injuries that could happen in an accident as reasonable prices. These prices are much cheaper than it would be to pay for medical bills without any help from an insurance company.