A question our experienced Virginia personal injury attorneys at Kalfus & Nachman often receive is how to pay for medical treatment caused by someone else’s negligence before your personal injury case or claim against the person who caused your injuries has concluded. Ultimately, under Virginia law, the person who was negligent and caused your injuries is responsible for the costs of any and all medical treatment that is associated with the injuries he, she or it caused. Therefore, if another driver is texting behind the wheel and hits you at a stoplight, causing you whiplash or other injuries, that driver is ultimately responsible for the costs of medical treatment you may need as a result of your injuries. The same is true if you slip and fall on a broken jar of salad dressing at a grocery store that the business negligently let sit there for hours without cleaning it up. However, that person and/or his or her insurer may be dragging its feet on paying your claim or perhaps even contesting responsibility for your injuries.
In the event you find yourself in this scenario, there are a number of different options you can utilize in order to receive the medical care you need for your injuries. First, you can utilize your own health insurance. There also are a number of other options. Sometimes healthcare providers will also provide treatment pursuant to a written promise that they will be paid once your claim against the party that injured you has been resolved out of the proceeds of any settlement or jury verdict in your favor. There also is a right under Virginia law for healthcare providers to assert a lien for the cost of any treatment they provide as a result of a third party’s negligence against the injured party’s recovery from the third party itself.
Regardless of your insurance status, the most important thing you can do is to seek the treatment you need if someone else has injured you. You do not want your injuries to become permanent because you chose not to seek treatment for them due to a concern about whether you would be reimbursed for them. In addition, if you delay seeking medical attention for injuries as a result of someone else’s negligence, then the value of your personal injury claim may also be less.
Get Medical Treatment if You Need It!
The most important thing to do if you have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence is to obtain whatever treatment you need. If you do not seek treatment, not only is there a greater likelihood that whatever injuries you suffered may become permanent, but it can also hurt the value of your personal injury claim in several different ways. First, if you do not seek treatment for your injuries, the other driver may try to use that fact against you to argue you were not hurt as badly as you claimed to be. Secondly, it also may reduce the value of your personal injury claim from the insurance company’s perspective, as insurers often measure the value of a case by the amount of medical bills an injured person has outstanding. This can ultimately affect the value of your case at a mediation or in settlement negotiations.
The Potential Sources or Payment for Your Medical Expenses Caused by Someone Else’s Negligence
If you have health insurance, whether through an employer or a private policy that you purchased either directly from an insurer or through a healthcare exchange, the medical treatment you receive is something that your existing health insurance can and should cover. In other cases, healthcare providers often will provide treatment to an injured person by agreeing to accept payment once your personal injury claim has been resolved by accepting an assignment of benefits or agreeing to assert a lien against any recovery you may receive from your personal injury lawsuit. As an alternative, Virginia law explicitly provides for certain types of statutory healthcare liens to be directly asserted against your recovery from the person who caused your injuries by the healthcare provider(s) who treat you for those injuries.
Contact the Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys at Kalfus & Nachman if You or Someone You Love Has Been Injured in Virginia
At Kalfus & Nachman, our experienced Virginia personal injury attorneys have recovered millions in compensation for our clients who have been injured due to someone else’s negligence. We have represented numerous individuals who have suffered injuries due to someone else’s negligence and we have successfully been able to walk our clients in these scenarios through what they need to do in order to ensure their medical bills are paid while they are still awaiting either a settlement, trial or resolution of their personal injury claim against the party who injured them. We also work actively to negotiate with any healthcare providers that may have treated you for those injuries to reduce or discount the value of their liens in order to ensure our clients walk away with as much as possible from a settlement or jury verdict. Therefore, if you live in the Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach or Roanoke, Virginia, areas and have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, then please contact Kalfus & Nachman PC by phone today at (855) 880-8163 or through the form on this page to schedule a free consultation regarding your particular situation.