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How to handle the medical bills paid by the wrong party?

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compiler

Member
What is the name of your state? Ga
I got injured in an auto accident. The other car is at fault. I went to the hospital and doctors offices. However, the hospital and doctors office do not charge the third party, the at faulty other car insurance company, but my medical insurance directly. Except for the co-payment, all the medical bills have been paid by my medical insurance. It is predicable the future medical charges will be continuously paid by my medical insurance. Does it mean the other car auto insurance can save the money? Will it affect my compensation in the future? How shall I do?
 


ecmst12

Senior Member
The other car's insurance will probably NOT reimburse your health insurance directly. They are not going to pay the bills as they come in, they are going to wait until treatment is complete to settle everything with you all at once. You will need to keep track of what your health insurance has paid for your treatment. When treatment is complete and you are ready to settle, you will have to account for this in your settlement request/demand. You will have to pay your health insurance company back out of your settlement money, so make sure you are getting enough to do so. It's ok to let your health insurance keep paying the bills for now, otherwise you'd have to pay them out of your pocket, just don't forget that they have to be paid back BEFORE you get anything for pain/suffering.
 

compiler

Member
If my medical insurance never asks me to pay back, does it mean the auto insurance company does not have to reimburse for the already paid medical bills or the compensation still needs to include the medical charges regardless my medical insurance have paid them or not? Do you know it?
 

Estreetloans

Junior Member
Your medical insurance should cover the expenses with no questions. However, if they do you can easily submit to your auto insurance provider to pay those expense. You should not have to pay them yourself, instead have your auo insurance pay your medical insurance company.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
YOUR auto insurance will NOT pay your medical bills unless you have PIP or Med Pay coverage. GA is not a no fault state and this coverage is not mandatory.

It doesn't matter whether your health insurance ASKS to be repaid or not; you are legally obligated to repay them after receiving your settlement. YOU should call THEM and ask how to go about paying them, after you get your settlement. Why? Because eventually, they're going to find out about it and ask you for the money, and you are going to have to pay them, whether or not you've already spent the settlement. So it's best to do the honest thing and get it over with.
 

alnorth

Member
I agree with everything ecmst12 posted. To add on to that, the fact that you have medical insurance paying your bills is completely irrelevant to the other driver, they still caused the damage and are liable. As mentioned, if you get anything from the other insurance company, you will have to repay your health insurance out of the settlement whether they ask for it or not. If they figure out 2 years from now that you got paid a settlement, they will come after you to get their money back, so if your going to settle, youll need to get more than what the health insurance paid for it to be worth the hassle.
 

compiler

Member
You all told me to pay back to my health insurance after the settlement. However, the medical bills have already been paid. I even did not see any bills except for the co-payments. How shall I request the auto insurance reimburse for all those charges and whom will the auto insurance reimburse, me or my health insurance? The auto insurance never knows what and where my health insurance is.
 

alnorth

Member
You all told me to pay back to my health insurance after the settlement. However, the medical bills have already been paid. I even did not see any bills except for the co-payments. How shall I request the auto insurance reimburse for all those charges and whom will the auto insurance reimburse, me or my health insurance? The auto insurance never knows what and where my health insurance is.
Your health insurance company didnt get hurt in the wreck, you did. Legally, the other driver and insurance company couldn't care less that there was medical insurance involved or you had to pay for it out of pocket. Presume for just a moment that you had no insurance at all and had to pay everything, how much would you have sued the other driver for? Thats how the courts will look at it. Your health insurance company should be able to give you the amount that was paid, and they would probably be eager to give you all the information you need if they think you are going after the other driver for the bills along with pain and suffering.

Now, you get paid a settlement. Seperately from your claim against the other driver, you now need to pay back your health insurance company. If your settlement is less than the bills, they get it all. Otherwise you keep anything that the health insurance and your lawyer (if any) don't take. If you have no idea how much the medical bills were, ask for a full accounting from the health insurance company when they ask for money out of the settlement.
 
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ecmst12

Senior Member
Actually, it's best to get a copy of your bills directly from the doctors/hospitals/etc where you were treated. You want the auto insurance company to be going by the billed amount, not the negotiated rate that your health insurance paid. You will only have to pay back, of course, the negotiated rate, but the original amount is what should be used to calculate the settlement.
 

compiler

Member
Do you mean I should present the auto insurance with the already paid medical satements and ask for the reimbursement? But, the auto insurance can say the bills have already been paid and your health insurance has not asked you to pay back, we cannot reimburse you for the already paid bills as your additional earnings. What is your reply?
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Yes, that is what you need to do. No, the auto insurance will not give that response. They are well aware that you are entitled to the cost of your medical bills, regardless of who paid them, and that you will have to pay your health insurance back for any bills that they paid.
 

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