How Will My Medical Bills Be Paid for While My Personal Injury Claim Is Ongoing?
How will my medical bills be paid for while my personal injury claim is ongoing? A sudden injury can cause a
wave of anxiety and fear to wash over you. Your mind is often immediately focused on two things: recovering from
your injuries and navigating the precarious financial situation you unexpectedly find yourself in. Medical treatment
can be expensive, and things may be even more nerve-wracking if you’re missing time off work.
When you’re injured through no fault of your own, you are owed compensation, which includes any and all medical
expenses. But what can you do if your claim is still ongoing and the bills are starting to pile up? We’ll discuss
your options in the rest of this blog post, but one of the best things to do for yourself is to consult with a personal injury lawyer. At Burger
Law, we’ve seen thousands of injury cases like yours and are dedicated to helping our clients get through
this stressful process. With offices in St. Louis, Chicago and elsewhere, our personal injury attorneys serve the
injured through Missouri and Illinois. Call us today at or contact us
online for a no-risk, no-obligation consultation.
Paying For Medical Bills After a Personal Injury
With a skilled and experienced personal injury lawyer fighting by your side, you’ll eventually receive compensation
for all of your damages, including medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering. However, injury settlements
take time and your injuries need to be treated now. Who will pay for my medical expenses in the meantime? What
happens if I can’t pay? You have a few options:
- Use your health insurance — If you have health insurance, a sudden injury or illness is one of the
key reasons why. Pay anything your policy says you have to out of pocket, and then rely on your insurance to
cover the rest. If you are enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid, those programs will pay for your medical expenses
as well. - Use your personal injury protection (PIP) or Med Pay — PIP (in Illinois) and Med Pay (in Missouri)
are optional coverages in auto insurance. If you were in a car accident and opted to pay for that coverage, your
own auto insurance will cover up to the PIP or Med Pay policy
limits in your coverage. - Set up a payment plan — Some healthcare providers offer payment plans that allow you to pay your
bills without penalty over time. This option allows you to stay current with your payments without placing a
large, immediate burden on you. - Negotiate with the healthcare provider — You can try negotiating with your healthcare provider to
lower the amount you owe. Some healthcare providers may be willing to reduce your bill if you explain your
situation and demonstrate that you are unable to pay. A personal injury lawyer is usually necessary for this
option, as they have experience negotiating with healthcare providers and know which ones are willing to
negotiate.
One last option that is sometimes mentioned is taking out a personal loan. This is generally inadvisable, as
short-term personal loans have high interest rates that will eat away at your eventual compensation. Always speak to
a personal injury attorney before taking out a loan to pay for medical expenses.
Will I Be Reimbursed For My Medical Expenses?
Yes. The purpose of compensation in a personal injury claim is to make you whole again, meaning putting you in the same position you were in before the
accident. So, in addition to compensation for lost wages and pain and suffering, you’ll be compensated for any out-of-pocket expenses related to your medical care.
That includes any physical therapy or chiropractic appointments, medications or even transportation costs that you
paid for yourself.
Experienced personal injury lawyers, like those at Burger Law, will have a network of healthcare professionals that
they know will work on a lien basis or defer payment.
What if My Health Insurance Company Wants to Be Reimbursed for the Medical Bills They Paid for Me?
Any entity, including health or auto insurance, a healthcare provider or the government, that helped you pay your
medical bills before your settlement has a right to be repaid once you’ve been compensated. This is because personal
injury claims are about fairness, and if you’re compensated for your medical bills, under the law it’s fair for
people that helped pay them to want some money back. However, there are ways to reduce how much you owe or, in some
cases, eliminate the need to pay anything.
Reducing Medical Liens in a Personal Injury Case
A medical lien is placed on your treatment when a debt holder, for example an insurance company or doctor’s office,
asserts their right to part of your compensation in return for offering their money or services. It’s rare for a
personal injury case not to involve liens. While we try to get you as much compensation as possible on the
front end, we believe our services aren’t over until we resolve your liens on the back end.
Liens need to be enforced by a written letter from the debt holder. Once your injury settlement is finalized and you
have your settlement check in hand, we’ll review the letter any lienholder has sent us to check the validity of
their claim. Missouri and Illinois both have very specific state statutes about liens, how they’re enforced and how
much a lienholder can legally ask for. We’ll use those laws to reduce the liens as much as possible, and then
negotiate with the lienholder on your behalf to further lower how much you owe. In some extreme cases, we may be
able to reduce the liens to nothing.
Missouri and Illinois Personal Injury Lawyers | Burger Law
At Burger Law, our St. Louis-based personal injury attorneys do everything possible to ensure you get the most amount
of money going directly to your pocket as possible. That includes working with healthcare providers and using
applicable law to bring down the cost of medical treatment and liens as much as possible. We want you to focus on
recovering physically and emotionally from your injuries; let us handle the legal aspects and negotiation. If you
were injured by another’s negligence in Missouri or Illinois, call Burger Law today at or fill out our
online contact form for a free consultation.
