What If Someone Is Not Able To Pay Their Medical Bills?
Oct. 29, 2019
What About The Possibility To Work With Doctors And Medical Facilities To Get Care And Pay Bills At A Later Time?
That’s a possibility but it’s really hard to do. If there’s absolutely no form of insurance whatsoever that will pay the bills, the first thing a person can do with hospitals is to put in a “Charity Care” application. If they can’t afford the bill and they don’t have the income, they may very well be entitled to this option.
With regard to going to a physician, they have to talk with physicians and find a physician that might be willing to treat them with the understanding that they would be paid out of settlement in the case.
There is a big problem there because the doctor is always going to expect to be paid. If for some reason the case is not successful, the patient still owes the doctor. Only the attorney works on contingency, meaning they are not paid when they are not successful; the doctor expects to be paid.
Therefore, if the patient has absolutely no coverage and no way to get their bills paid but they need care, then they have to get it. If that means going to the hospital and asking for Charity Care or going to an orthopedic clinic or finding a physician who is willing to wait, if they need care, they need care. That’s one of the reasons why someone should not get medical care when they don’t need it.
What About A Commercial Driver Who Is Involved In An Accident But Cannot Pay Their Bills?
A truck or a commercial policy rarely carries PIP. PIP is for private passenger autos and is not for commercial vehicles. The reason for that is because in a commercial setting, one expects that there is workers’ compensation insurance which would pay the bills.
However, in case a commercial vehicle driver is involved in an accident while driving their personal work vehicle, and they cannot pay their medical bills, the only thing possible to assist him at securing medical care is to work on a letter of protection, or an agreement to be paid later.
They also need to apply for health insurance immediately because health insurance does not punish you for having a pre-existing condition. They have to accept you. These are part of the changes made in the new laws, commonly called “ObamaCare” and this is a benefit to all of us because you can get coverage. They can’t punish you because you had cancer in the past or you had a bad knee or a problem that happened before you obtained coverage.
Even before ObamaCare, there was a period of time that had to go by before they covered you for all of your medical conditions, which was usually six months.
Once the health insurance starts to pick up, if the person needs surgery, it will be completely covered. To get health insurance after the accident, there is a period of time to wait before they will cover all of the conditions and take care of the medical bills. At the end of the case, there will be fewer medical bills that need to be paid, and not nearly as much as what might have occurred if the person didn’t obtain health insurance after the accident.
You have to understand that rarely do people have enough motor vehicle insurance to completely pay for your injuries and the things that you’re entitled to obtain from a case. Too often, there is too little money that’s available to pay the plaintiff, so it’s very important to have your bills paid from all available sources so that your recovery is maximized.
If you are Not Able To Pay Your Medical Bills After An Accident, call the law office of Attorney David Maran for a free initial consultation at (973) 622-5303 and get the information and legal answers you’re seeking.