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You've been in a Nevada car accident or another serious accident that resulted in you receiving medical care.
You now have medical bills, and you worry that they may exceed your personal injury settlement; that's, of course, if you even received a settlement because if you lose your case under Nevada law, you will be responsible for your medical expenses and the other parties.
But let's say you win and receive a paycheck from the opposing side, and you worry or realize that the medical bills exceed your settlement by several zeros.
You worry that being an accident victim will set you financially back by a drastic amount.
However, you have options to prevent a financial disaster, which you can learn from an experienced personal injury attorney by reading the following text.
What To Do If My Medical Bills Exceed My Settlement In Nevada
If your medical bills succeed, your personal injury settlement amount, you should never leave outstanding medical bills; instead, do the following to get the medical bills paid while adverting out-of-pocket expenses.
Contact a Personal Injury Attorney
When you discover that your settlement amount is insufficient to cover your medical treatment costs, start exploring legal options and counsel with a personal injury lawyer.
Inform them that your medical expenses exceed your personal injury claim amount.
If they are not up to date, make sure to provide them with up-to-date information like medical providers, insurance coverage, and case details.
Negotiate With Your Medical Providers
Expensive medical bills that exceed your settlement are usually inflated to what your medical costs should be. Don't let healthcare providers take advantage of you; contact one of our personal injury attorneys.
Our personal injury lawyers will negotiate on your behalf to reduce your high medical bills as much as possible, mitigating your financial burden.
Review Insurance Policies
With your personal injury lawyer, review the insurance policy limits & details of both your insurance company and the defendant's insurance company.
Check the amount the insurance policy outlines for medical expenses related to personal injury cases.
Additionally, if you have health insurance, it would be a good time to read over your chosen health insurance company's terms and policies for medical bills related to a personal injury lawsuit.
If you are worried that you don't understand insurance or health insurance company policy limits, contact one of our Nevada attorneys, who can review the limits and terms for you and work with medical providers about lowering medical bills using the insurance company.
Look Into Medical Liens
A common answer to the question, "What if my medical bills are more than my settlement?" is to explore medical liens.
A Medical lien is a legal claim placed by the healthcare provider on your personal injury settlement.
A medical provider will do this to secure payment for their services while being able to address the financial obligations of the injured party.
However, there are a few things to note when exploring medical liens which are:
Validate Liens - Healthcare providers may try to take advantage of accident victims by having them pay medical bills that are inflated. It's essential to contact a personal injury attorney to help verify the lien's legitimacy.
Negotiate Lien Amount - If the lien exceeds your ability to pay your medical bills, you can negotiate with the healthcare providers to lower your lien amount by expressing the financial burden paying medical bills may cause.
Seek Additional Compensation
If the settlement process is still ongoing and the offer compensation amount will not cover your medical costs, you can work to seek more out of your personal injury case by:
Reevaluating Damages - Explain to your attorney that your medical expenses exceed the proposed settlement amount and that you would like to receive a more considerable accident settlement amount. Your attorney can achieve this by reassessing the extent of your physical, emotional, and financial damages.
Negotiation - Your personal injury attorney could reengage in negotiations with parties such as the health insurance provider or other party's insurance company to reach a higher settlement agreement amount to cover medical costs.
Underinsured Motorist Policy - If you were in a car accident, check if your auto insurance policy has underinsured motorist coverage. If your insurance coverage contains this policy, you can seek compensation directly from your insurance company to pay medical expenses.
If you are worried that the amount you are offered for the accident settlement won't be enough to cover your medical bills, contact The Rodney Okano Car Accident Lawyer Law Firm, where you'll receive a free consultation on how we will maximize your compensation amount.
Financial Assistance Programs
If you need financial assistance to cover your medical expenses, you can look into the following programs:
Medical Assistance - The DHHS provides health care coverage for low-income families. This can be used to cover hospital bills.
Local Programs - Explore financial assistance programs around Nevada and your community to see if they may be able to cover medical bills after an auto accident or another personal injury.
Additional Ways To Cover Medical Expenses
If your medical bills surpass your accident settlement, here are a few additional ways you can cover them:
Med Pay Coverage - If you have med pay, you can receive immediate relief for medical bills resulting from an injury, such as a car accident, regardless of fault. Contact your attorney and see how you can use your medical payments coverage to your advantage.
Personal Injury Protection - Like medical pay, PIP can provide coverage for medical bills regardless of fault. However, the difference is that PIP goes beyond covering medical bills and can also cover lost wages and rehabilitation costs. PIP is often seen in personal injury settlements and can be helpful.
How To Prevent Your Medical Bills From Exceeding Your Settlement
We have provided you with options on what to do if your medical bill is greater then your car accident settlement or other personal injury amount.
However, the best case is to prevent the situation fully and obtain compensation without having your medical bills from exceeding it.
Below we provide ways to prevent this situation from occurring in personal injury cases.
Don't Be Afaird To Negoitate
Your lawyer should always negotiate with healthcare providers on lowering your medical bills. Additionally they should scrutinize the hospital bill for any errors or inflated costs.
Understand Your Insurance Coverage
When making any type of insurance claim you should first fully understand your insurance coverage with your chosen legal counsel. Doing this will better help you understand what legal options you should take.
Use A Medical Lien
Using a medical lien will allows the health insurance provider to seek reimbursement directly from your car accident settlement.
Include Future Medical Costs
When working with your attorney make sure your insurance claim take note for any ongoing or future medical bills that relate to the injury.
Document All Medical Bills
Ensure you keep detailed records of all medical expenses, which could be bills, receipts, and any out-of-pocket costs. This information will be used when you want to pursue compensation.
Talk With A Nevada Lawyer
If you have been in a car accident in Las Vegas, NV contact The Rodney Okano Car Accident Lawyer, as with over 20 years of epxeinrce we ensure that we will handle your case with dedication, fight, and excellence.
To in touch with use immdetaily call (702) 566-3600 today.
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