Medical Treatment Without Insurance After a Car Accident
Posted on Apr 28, 2011 12:57pm PDT
Medical Treatment Without Health Insurance Following a Car Accident
If you are in a car accident and have no health insurance, how do you get the medical treatment you need?
If you are badly injured in a car accident, you will be taken to the hospital where you will be treated without regard to your insurance. However, once you are released, you are basically on your own. If your symptoms are bad enough, and the danger to you great enough you can go back to the emergency room. But that is hardly a good solution, and can cost a lot of money.
An alternative to returning to the emergency room is to seek treatment on a lien. A lien is a document that you sign that gives (or "assigns") a portion of your recovery to the person who treated your (i.e., the "lienholder"). In most cases, you are not required to pay back the lienholder if you do not recover, so long as you make a reasonable effort to recover from the person who injured you.
Treatments Available
The most common scenario where a lien is found is where a chiropractor issues a lien. But you can treatment from any sort of medical provider:
- Surgeons
- Physical therapists
- Massage therapists
- Chiropractors
- Plastic surgeons
The Process
Of course, getting medical treatment on a lien after a car accident is not as simple as just showing up at Kaiser. The medical provider may simply want to see that you have a personal injury lawyer, and may ask no further questions. Others will want to talk with your personal injury attorney about the merits of your case, so they can assess the chances that they will recover for their services.
The Lien
The lien itself is a piece of paper that you sign (and your attorney signs as well), directing your attorney to pay for the medical treatment out of the proceeds of your car accident case. If a doctor's office gives you one of these, read it very carefully and be sure to show it to your personal injury attorney.
Pete Clancy is an Oakland personal injury attorney. He can be reached at 925-835-7500, or through his website.