If I am in a wreck, may I use my health insurance to pay for medical treatment?

Short answer: Yes.

After an auto accident, the medical care providers who treated you want to be paid, and you want them to be paid. The quickest way for them to receive compensation and for you to get treatment is to use your health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid.

Medical providers do not want to wait months or years until your auto accident case is settled to be paid. Also, when you use health insurance it allows, you to receive the medical care that you need.

Your health insurance company, Medicare, or Medicaid will usually assert a claim or lien against any recovery you may receive. The lien asserted by health insurance companies is created by your contract of insurance. The lien asserted by Medicare or Medicaid is created by the law.

These liens must be paid back or you may lose insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits.

Your injury attorney will notify the health insurance carrier and collect information from them to ensure the proper lien claim amount. Further, health insurance companies will usually accept a discount which will assist in your recovery.

Medicare and Medicaid lien information is usually complicated by the government bureaucracies. Having a personal injury attorney deal with these issues on your behalf can be imperative.