When you are involved in an auto accident, you may assume your doctor bills will be covered just like any other doctor bill. You visit the doctor, they bill your medical insurance company, and you pay the deductible. However, after an auto accident, it is not always that straight forward. Doctors and other medical providers do something different when billing crash victims, and it can catch you off guard with some not-so-nice bills.
Educating yourself on how accident medical billing is performed will prevent you from paying outrageous fees, medical liens, and delayed medical treatment. Let’s talk about what you should be aware of as it pertains to why medical care providers treat crash victims differently when they bill and how to protect yourself.
How Accident Victims are Treated Differently by Medical Care Providers
The moment doctors hear that your injuries were acquired in an accident, they are likely to change their billing process. Unlike normal medical practice, where healthcare providers bill insurance providers directly for normal medical care, accidents can take other processes. Here’s why:
- More Payment Choices – Instead of taking rates on medical insurance, medical providers may be paid more by waiting to settle an injury.
- Medical Liens & Letters of Protection (LOPs) – Physicians will not accept payment from medical insurance but will lien your settlement.
- Uncertainty with Insurance – Providers will try to bill auto insurance initially, which will result in unpaid balances and late treatment.
Taking this into account, you are in the best position to make the most-informed decisions for your health and avoid over-exposure of your finances.
Standard Billing Practices for Accident Victims with Injury
1. Auto Insurance Billing Prior to Health Insurance
Doctors will try to bill the other party’s insurance first before your health insurance. Personal Injury Protection, under Florida statute, must be exhausted before secondary insurance benefits take effect. Auto insurance companies never pay on time, and physicians’ clinics dislike them because they always refuse payment. So they may:
– Not treat until payment is assured.
– Pay them later and pay you earlier in time.
– Present documents that make them eligible for payment against your settlement.
2. Medical Liens or Letters of Protection
There are some doctors who are more apt to wait for payment than accept standard health insurance payments. This letter of protection or medical lien will allow them to receive more in the future. Although it is extremely tempting, there are disadvantages:
– Ridiculous Fees: Docs bill a lot more than they can ever get paid by insurance.
– Settlement Deduction – The doctor gets paid upfront, deducted from your account.
– Not all physicians accept liens, which may exclude access to receiving treatment.
How Florida HB 837 Affects LOPs
Since Florida House Bill 837 (HB 837) was passed into law, its impact on the operations of LOPs has been a material one. Enacted into law in a bid to check runaway claims as well as fraud against personal injury claims, Florida HB 837 has had a direct impact on how accident patients are handled and, more crucially, compensated for the same. How HB 837 impacts LOPs:
- Tighter Documentation Guidelines – Doctors have to submit itemized bills and report any discount that they give to covered persons, in an effort to prevent inflated billing.
- Lien-Based Medical Fee Caps – Pleading outlandish LOP-based medical charges as facts in injury cases is illegal, thereby lessening the simplicity of providers filing increased fees. You are covered in case you are a policy holder and you decide to treat under an LOP. Bills allow you to submit before the jury only expenses that your medical insurance will compensate you for.
- Incentive for Using Health Coverage – With doctors now being asked to report how much they are charging, crash victims have even greater incentive to take advantage of their PIP and health insurance on each and every crash that they are qualified to claim not to end up out of luck.
Why to Make Use of Your Automobile and Medical Insurance First
With the reform under HB 837, more than ever, it is now necessary that you exhaust your auto insurance (PIP) and medical insurance coverage before performing an LOP. It’s because of the following reasons:
- Less Medical Expenses – The medical insurance is prepaid to the providers, so you pay less.
- Reduce Settlement Deductions – With LOP-based bills so large, they can drain your settlement. Insurance application eliminates the problem.
- Faster Payment of Claims – Auto and health insurers pay sooner than permitting a settlement, thereby encouraging sooner medical care.
How these payment arrangements affect your injury settlement
How your doctors get paid can go a long, long way toward affecting your net take-home pay. Unless you’re watchful, most of your award goes to paying doctors upfront. Why:
- Medical Liens subtract from Your Net Take-Home – If your lawyer must pay liens upfront before he will disburse to you your award, you might have less cash than you think.
- Counter-Claim by Other Insurer – Excessive medical bills can result in direct confrontation with the insurance company of the at-fault vehicle and thus your claim delay.
- Surprise Bills – In case of continuation of the case, you will be left with paying pending amounts prior to settlement funds being available for disbursement to you.
Guarding Against Aggressive Medical Billing
Know how health care billing after an accident, how you can protect your wallet is this:
1. Providers Ask Bill Your Insurance
Although your injuries are caused by accidents, have your provider bill your health coverage once your PIP benefits are used up the same way you do when you are under any kind of care. You will get providers who will grumble by informing you that you do not need to bill your health coverage, but billing your health insurance will protect you from extra charges and settlement deductions.
2. Be cautious of Medical Liens & LOPs
Do not sign a letter of protection or doctor’s lien if you are signing under duress. Obtain an injury lawyer who will explain possible settlement ramifications as well as other treatment protocols.
3. Document all medical bills.
Maintain a record of all of your bills, insurance reports, and payments associated with your injury. This will assist in negotiating a reasonable settlement and not overpaying for treatment.
4. Speak to a Personal Injury Attorney
Your lawyer negotiates your medical billing process after an accident. Your lawyer can negotiate lower medical bills, ensure that your medical insurance is used correctly, and avoid high fees eating into your settlement.
5. Be Informed about Your Medical Debt Before Payment
Before paying, determine the fee you owe in medical fees. By doing so, you can pay for an amount of money that covers your costs and earns a decent return.
Last Words: Be Wary
Medical bills after a car accident can be staggering, but knowing how accident cases are handled by providers puts you in a position to save yourself.
Remember, even though you were injured from some kind of accident, it does not necessarily mean that you are going to be treated badly. Learn, inquire when you have to, and start making decisions about your own money. An attorney handling your claim will cut a good bargain and guide you to funds due to you. Call Jaime “Mr. 786Abogado” Suarez today to Get You Paid!