Disability Law

Medical Evidence Part 3: Medical Bills in Personal Injury Cases Should Be Submitted For Payment To All Available Insurers Without Delay

By Jack E. Clay

A piece of information that may not be considered when someone has been injured in a car accident is the necessity in filing one?s medical bills with the health insurance company as soon as possible. Also, medical bills should be submitted to the automobile insurance company, if medical payments coverage is applicable. Insurance companies often have set deadlines for submission of medical bills under their respective policies. Furthermore, in the case of medical payments coverage, the auto insurer needs to be notified promptly and expenses must be incurred within 3 years from the date of the accident under O.C.G.A. 33-34-2(1).

The financial shocks resulting from a car wreck can be frustrating and devastating, especially in our current economic state. It is good piece of mind to know that your health insurer is doing its part to pay for medical bills, even if they will have to be re-paid due to their subrogation interest.

Actually, in any situation, this is very important. When a person has health insurance, whether it be an individual plan or one offered through the workplace, bills should be submitted for payment in order to avoid credit agencies from hounding you and harming your credit. . When the time comes for a case to be settled, my Atlanta area office thoroughly investigates the file and corresponds with medical providers to confirm all outstanding medical bills, as referenced in an earlier blog. Often, my clients have requested that all outstanding amounts be paid from the settlement so that nothing goes unpaid and shows up later. To provide an accurate breakdown of fees in a settlement, we must have an accurate list of what bills have already been paid by health insurance. Many health insurance companies are relatively easy to work with to see that bills are paid for an injured person.

Please contact my Douglasville law office if you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident, truck wreck, or workers' compensation accident.

Full post as published by Georgia Law Blog on September 12, 2008 (boomark / email).