You would think that the wrong doing driver’s insurance company would pay your medical bills as they are incurred. In most cases you should not settle your car accident claim until all of the medical treatment has been finished,
Most people have large deductibles on their personal health insurance, if they have personal health insurance at all. Some people have Medicaid or Medicare and some people have no health insurance at all. So how do you pay your bills in the meantime?
Most automobile insurance policies in Vermont have provisions for what is called medical payments coverage also known as med pay. If injuries occured in your vehicle — no matter who is at fault — and you have medical payments coverage, it will pay for all related medical treatment up to the amount allowed by your policy. It is a no fault type of insurance and is portable, meaning it covers you wherever you might go be it sitting on your porch, walking or on your bike if another vehicle injures you. That includes copays, prescriptions, and all types of medical treatment as well as funeral bills in a fatality case. And that also applies to anyone else injured in the vehicle with the medical payments coverage.
Why should my insurance pay for medical treatment caused by the negligence of another? The first and easiest answer is that you have paid for that protection when you pay your premiums every month or year. The second is, in states like Vermont, they will be reimbursed by the negligent party’s insurance company when the case settles under the law of subrogation. So it amounts to a loan with the benefit of having your bills paid in a timely way.