Rear end accident, medical running out

by Dee

Hi I hope you can give me some advice on this matter as to which direction I should take. I was in a accident in Oct 08 I was read ended by a box truck at 50+ MPH and pushed about 50ft and into another car.

I was taken from the scene by EMS. The drive that hit me was cited at the scene and a police report was done. I was listed as not at fault. My insurance company up until now was paying for my medical bills and time off from work. So after 2 months of going to my Dr and going to therapy. I was referred to a specialist for my shoulder injury who did x-rays and a MRI and found a tear in my labrum.

I was then told that I needed to have surgery to repair this or it will only continue to get worse, which mean i will be off work for another 6 to 9 months. So I called my insurance carrier to tell them this and I was told that I only have 10K of coverage for medical and that I only had 1K left. So now what do I do I was just got of school when the accident happened so i dont have other medical insurance.

Will the person who hit me insurance have to pay for the medical cost for surgery or will I have to pay that out of pocket which I cant do at this time???? Please any advice you have on this would be a big help I just dont know which way to turn.

I have to have this surgery done I am in extreme pain everyday, but I cant afford 40k in medical bills either. Thank you for you time.


Answer:

Hello Dee,

I am sorry to hear about your shoulder and your situation. It sounds like your coverage is about to expired. Once you hit your 10K, you will be virtually left without coverage at all.

Technically speaking, the other insurance company (the person's that hit you) does not have any liability to you until you decide to settle your case.

This is problematic because you cannot settle until you know all your damages. insurance companies use strategist like this one so you are in a bad position and settle for less than you should.

Dee, you are in a bad spot. You do have a very severe injury that could be worth quite some money. You really need to seek legal advice to protect your interest.

Usually, you can try to strike a deal with the doctor's that they will do the medical surgery and then they will put a lien against your settlement. Once you settle (could be three years out), the doctor gets paid first.

This is a more complicated negotiation and usually it is done by your lawyer. They can put their word of payment and their word of the case and then doctors will go there.

I hope this helps some and I hope you feel better soon.