Should Kentucky car accident victims use their personal health insurance to pay their medical bills for the treatment they receive for injuries they sustained in an automobile accident?  This is a question frequently asked by clients.

·         Do I Give my health insurance card to my doctors?

·         Why should my car insurance pay for my medical bills from an automobile accident that wasn’t my fault?

·         Isn’t it the at-fault cars’ insurance company that should have to pay?

In other words should they use their health insurance to pay for their treatment from a car accident?  The answer is no and yes. Why No? Your first and primary insurance in a car accident in Kentucky is your Personal Injury Protection or PIP benefits.  Your own car insurance will pay the first $10,000.00 of medical bills for treatment from a car accident under most circumstances. 

The “yes” comes after this $10,000.00 amount is fully paid or exhausted. You can then use your health insurance. Your health insurance will pay the medical bills from this point on.  The confusing part and what some consider the bad part about this is there’s something called subrogation. Ninety percent of all health insurance plans require you to reimburse the health insurance carrier for anything they pay toward the treatment of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Federal ERISA laws cover this area. It is a very specialized area of law and would require pages to fully explain. Your health insurance company generally entitled to reimbursement, and they can recover what was paid out under most circumstances.

If there is a requirement to pay your health insurance company why should use your health insurance to pay the bills from your car wreck case? The answer is twofold. One is to make sure that you get the treatment you need. The second is that they pay at a reduced rate, which ultimately saves you money. Realize that you will have to reimburse them out of the proceeds of your accident case, but only what is paid.

There are some good points for the Kentucky accident victim. When a health insurance company pays a bill they will pay the provider the agreed upon price for any treatment. In other words, they will pay only a portion of the charge. You only have to reimburse the health insurance company what they have paid, not the total amount of the bill. Usually this amount will be discounted even further at the time of payment by you.

You are also responsible to pay any co-pays or deductibles to the health care provider, unless you can work out other arrangements with your doctor. You will eventually be reimbursed but that may be several months or even years later when your accident case is settled.

The bottom line is you should use your health insurance to pay your medical bills once your PIP benefits have been exhausted. Your health insurance is secondary insurance. This allows you to get the treatment you need without being hassled by bill collectors for payment.

Kentucky is a No-Fault Insurance state. What does this mean? There are a lot of Kentucky accident victims who hear this term and believe that this means that it doesn’t matter who caused a automobile accident. People come into my office all the time and are confused by the term No-Fault. They believe that anyone who is injured in a Kentucky automobile accident can recover for their pain and suffering. Some people believe that no matter whose fault the accident is they are going to get paid for their injuries. This is not what it means at all.

What No-Fault means is that no matter whose fault the accident is your own personal car insurance will pay for your medical treatment for injuries from the car accident.  This means that even if the car accident was your fault you can go to the doctor. You can receive medical care and treatment for your injuries. This is where the term No-Fault comes from.

You don’t have to worry about how you are going to pay for your medical care. Your medical bills will be paid. You can go to the doctor of your choice. You don’t have to worry about the insurance company of the person that caused the accident agreeing to the treatment. There is no pre-authorization that a doctor needs to get before they can treat you for your injuries.

The name of the No-Fault Statute is actually the Motor Vehicle Reparations Act. You can find it at KRS 304.39 et seq if you really want to read the statute. It is not the most entertaining reading I have ever done by any stretch of the imagination, but it does contain the rules that cover how insurance company handle medical care and the payment for that care in auto accident cases in Kentucky.

The purpose of the No-Fault Act, as it is called, is to make sure that people that are injured in accidents are able to get the treatment they need.  This helps to give you peace of mind. It has nothing to do at all with whether or not the accident was your fault and whether you can collect for what is commonly called pain and suffering. There must be an at-fault party to sue for you to have a personal injury case and collect for your pain and suffering. No-Fault only deals with the payment of medical bills. It has nothing to do with a pain and suffering settlement.

The bottom line is if medical care is related to injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident in Kentucky they will be paid by your No-Fault benefits.

Kentucky car accident victims always want to know how their medical bills are going to be paid.  They have been in an accident, they’re injured, and they’re not able to work.  Many people nowadays don’t have health insurance. The assumption that is made is “If I don’t have health insurance I will have to pay the medical bills for treatment from a car accident out of my own pocket”.

In Kentucky your own insurance company will pay those medical bills.  You have what is called PIP benefits. This is short for Personal Injury Protection. You may also hear these benefits referred to as No-Fault Benefits or Basic Reparations Benefits. It’s something you pay for under your automobile insurance policy. The first $10,000.00 of your medical treatment will be paid for by your insurance company.  You fill out a PIP application  that is sent to you by your insurance company. This triggers the payment to your doctor automatically from that point on until those $10,000.00 of benefits are exhausted. 

Once the PIP Benefits are exhausted you will send your medical bills to your health insurance company. Any additional treatment will be paid by your health insurance carrier. You are personally responsible for any co-pays or deductibles. Any money you pay out of your pocket should be reimbursed by the at-fault party’s insurance company at the time your personal injury case is settled. 

You might be concerned that hey, why should my car insurance company pay for this if the accident wasn’t my fault?  This is done so that you can immediately go to the doctor of your choice. Well at the end of the case they will get reimbursed by the at-fault party’s insurance company minus a $1,000.00 inner company deductible, so your insurance company will not be on the hook for those benefits.

Many Kentucky accident victims have suffered serious and life changing injuries from an automobile accidents, truck accidents or motorcycle accident. They come into my office looking for answers. They are concerned about the fact that they only have $10,000.00 in medical benefits available to them from their PIP Benefits (Personal Injury Protection) in their car insurance policy.  If you’ve been in an accident and have a serious injury and are in need of surgery this may not be enough to cover the medical bills for treatment you receive for injuries suffered in the accident. It’s a real concern if you don’t have health insurance. 

         After an accident your options are limited if you don’t have health insurance. Unfortunately you can’t go back in time. You are forced to go to a free clinic or find a doctor who will agree to treat you or perform surgery on a promise to pay later. This just doesn’t happen very often.

You really must take action right now before you are even in a serious automobile accident in Kentucky. You must do something long before you even think about contacting a car accident attorney. One thing that you must do is ask your insurance agent to increase your PIP benefits.  These additional benefits are called Added Reparations Benefits.  You can increase your benefits to $20,000.00 per accident, $40,000.00 per accident, $50,000.00 and even more with many insurance companies. 

You might think, well if I’m getting five times the benefits, I don’t want to pay five times the amount, but in many circumstances your premium will go up a relatively insignificant amount compared to the increased benefits you are getting.  One of the most important things you can do right now to protect yourself and your family is contact your insurance agent and request additional medical benefits on your auto insurance policy.  I would suggest that you call your insurance agent today to ask him how to go about this.  You’ll be amazed at how little it will really cost you and the peace of mind you will have knowing you have protected your family should you be in a serous car accident.

Kentucky is a PIP state for automobile accidents. PIP is short for Personal Injury Protection. You may also hear these benefits referred to as Basic Reparation Benefits or No-Fault Benefits. I am not going into great details hear as to how these benefits work. Here is the nut shell. You have $10,000.00 of benefits that will pay your first $10,000.00 of medical bills and or lost wages.

Those of you that know me have heard me say that this is simply not enough for most accidents. I urge everyone to I run into (just figuratively) to purchase additional benefits called Added Reparation Benefits. For a small increase in your premium you can dramatically increase the coverage that is available to you.

With all of the talk about health care reform I have been looking at what is going on north of the border in Canada. In Ontario government is making plans to reduce their medical rehabilitation benefit from $100,000.00 to $50,000.00 for non- catastrophically injured people.  This is part their no-fault benefits. While I am urging people to increase their benefits in Kentucky the Canadian government is forcing everyone to take a reduction in these benefits. This will significantly alter the quality of care victims of automobile accidents will receive.

Interestingly enough it will increase the attorney fee collected. I am sure that most Personal Injury lawyers in Ontario don’t care about this change because of this.

I ran across an interview done by Brenda Hollingsworth, an Ottawa personal injury attorney, which was a breath of fresh air. Brenda is speaking out against the decrease in medical rehabilitation benefits that will be available to seriously injured car accident victims starting in the summer of 2010. In the video, Brenda talked about how injured car accident victims will run out of their Ontario rehabilitation funds long before the ten-years they are supposed to last. The 50% reductions in benefits will have catastrophic affects on many families.  

Brenda believes this change will increase the number of lawsuits required because injured people will have to sue the drivers who hit them to ensure they can pay for physiotherapy, medication and other medical needs.

I salute Brenda for standing up for the victims of auto accidents. In Kentucky we already have a low amount of PIP benefits that is required. Do yourself a favor and call your insurance agent and raise your coverage today!

Kentucky accident victims have a serious problem that I am seeing over and over again in my office. Unfortunately the frequency has increased. The problem is not with the accident victim but with the person that caused the accident. The at-fault party has been charged criminally with a variety of charges that include “Operating on a Suspended License” and “No Insurance”. I believe this has a lot to do with the economy and the “R” word. People are forced to make a choice between keeping their car insurance paid up, renewing the registration on their car and even paying speeding tickets as opposed to going to the grocery. The grocery is winning out.

How does all of this affect the Kentucky accident victim? There are a variety of reasons that Kentucky driving privileges are suspended for. It can be as a result of a Drunk Driving conviction or for habitual speeding. Those with suspended drivers licenses are dangerous drivers that keep driving. Unfortunately, they often cause serious automobile accidents. What is even worse, many car insurance policies will not cover the accident because the driver is in violation of the law, and thus the terms of the policy.

Other times the at-fault party doesn’t have car insurance to cover an accident. The coverage was not available because they have not paid their premium. As I said I am seeing this more and more frequently. What can be done?

There is new technology on the horizon, which may beat the low tech solution of simply impounding the offending party’s car (which is a short term fix at best). I read about a potential option on TheTennesseeAutoAccidentAttorney blog that is in the development stage called the Electronic Drivers License (EDLs). What is an EDL? It is similar to a bank card or a “smart card” that works together with an ignition interlock system (these are used to prevent habitual drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel). It is an on board computer that would verify the drivers identity in order to authorize the operation of the car. Along with verifying the identity of the driver the EDL system will have the ability of providing travel information such as time of day and speed prior to an impact. This is similar to a black box that we often hear about in airplanes. This is also standard equipment on many luxury automobiles and is referred to as an Event Data Recorder. I believe they will be required equipment on all cars in the near future.

This sounds great and will prevent some serious automobile accidents, but how will we know that the person behind the wheel is not using someone else’s card? There will need to be some sort of authorization system, such as voice recognition, finger print identification or maybe a Home Incarceration style of bracelet. Another option would be a system similar to the Owner Compliance Key that blocks cell phone usage within a three foot radius of the driver. I will be following the development of EDLs and keep you posted.

But what can you do to protect yourself from these uninsured drivers? You must make sure that you have uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own car insurance policy. This is not an option anymore. Never ever waive uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. If you are injured in an automobile accident in Kentucky and the person that hit you does not have insurance you will not be compensated unless YOU have this coverage on your policy. There will be no compensation for loss of power to labor and earn money. There will be no compensation for medical bills. There will be non compensation for pain and suffering. That is unless you have uninsured motorist coverage. Call your insurance agent today and ask if you have this coverage. If the answer is yes and you do have this coverage; raise the limits. If the answer is no; add it immediately!

Should you have any questions about insurance check out my book: “What You Don’t Know About Buying Car Insurance Can Hurt You”, Kentucky’s Ultimate Guide To Buying Car Insurance”. Go to my website and I will send you your book valued at $14.95 free of charge. Protect yourself and make sure you have the right coverage.

Don’t put yourself in a situation where you are injured in an accident and the at-fault party doesn’t have insurance. I don’t want to be the attorney that has to tell there is nothing I can do for you because you don’t have uninsured motorist coverage.

I received a phone call yesterday from a potential client that I just shook my head after I hung up the phone. I was asked this question:

How do I get my $10,000.00? I was in a car wreck yesterday
and I need my money.

This question disturbed me so I inquired further and asked how the accident happened and what the injuries were. The reply was that there was no injury they just wanted their car wreck money.    I get a similar question from someone just about every week. The motive is usually not as clearly for money. It is usually just a lack of understanding of the Kentucky PIP statute and how it actually applies to a Kentucky car accident.

There are bus ads and television commercials you see everyday telling you that if you have been in a car accident you are entitled to $10,000.00. These ads are not lies but they do not tell you the whole truth. They make you believe that there is this magical pot of money waiting for you if you have been involved in a Kentucky car accident.

There is $10,000.00 of benefits available but it is not just because you have been in a car accident. They are there if you have been hurt! Not just because you were in a wreck. A car accident is not hitting the lottery. It is not a way to pay off your bills and put your kids through college. There is not a client I represent who wouldn’t give the money back if they could only be the way they were before the accident.

There are several names for this $10,000.00. It is called:

• PIP Benefits

• No-Fault Benefits

• Basic Reparation Benefits

• Added Reparation Benefits (If you are lucky and have a good insurance agent that has advised you of the availability of these in Kentucky)

The Kentucky No-Fault Statute was enacted by our legislature to make sure that motor vehicle accident victims would receive the medical care they need without being hassled by the insurance company of the car that hit them. I will not go into all of the different benefits here, as I  have written many blogs and a book that thoroughly covers this subject. Basically you are entitled to have your first $10,000.00 of medical bills and or loss wages paid(at a maximum of $200.00 per week). This is money to ensure you get the treatment and care that you need paid by your own insurance company. It doesn’t matter whether the accident was your fault or not. You can still go to the doctor. It is not a windfall, it is a method to ensure accident victims get the treatment and medical care they need.

The next time you see one of the commercials offering $10,000.00 for your car accident you can say I know what that money is really for. There is no give away or lottery. This is money to make sure the injured accident victim gets the medical treatment they need.

Having no car insurance can have a negative impact on your car accident case. Today it is more important then ever to have not only car insurance, but really good car insurance coverage. Why? That is easy, because more and more people are driving without car insurance. They are rolling the dice and hoping they don’t get caught. This is very short sighted. Most are thinking about not getting a “no insurance” ticket. Not getting pulled over by the police. If they are in an automobile accident it will be much worse on them then any citation the police may issue you.

First if you are in an accident in Kentucky that is not your fault, that is someone else hits you, and you do not have car coverage the ramifications can be devastating to you. First you had better have health insurance or you are personally responsible for your medical bills. I know the chance of there being health insurance coverage is unlikely if you don’t have car insurance.

This is going to sound crazy but it is the law. You are responsible for your first $10,000.00 in medical bills. The at-fault insurance company, if there is in fact one, is not responsible for the first $10,000.00 in medical expenses. It doesn’t matter how severe the accident is or how badly you are injured. You are out of luck.

I had a client in my office today that has a little over $9,000.00 in medical bills and she is responsible for them. It is very sad because she has no money to pay her bills and no health insurance. The insurance company knows the law and is using this fact for their benefit. The offer is low for the pain and suffering. There is just not enough money to go around. The bills can be negotiated but she will not get what her case is really worth because of this. To make matters worse, she was charged with a criminal offense of “No Insurance” even thought the accident wasn’t her fault.

What would have made matters worse is if the at-fault car had no insurance. If this was the case there would be no insurance money at all. The only recourse would be to go against the assets of the person that caused the accident. In most cases there is nothing there.

The point of all of this is to make sure you have auto insurance. It is your job to financially protect your family. You should have coverage and it should be good coverage. If you are I a horrific accident and can’t work or are killed what will happen to your family? Good insurance will not replace you but your family will be able to keep their house and pay the bills. Check out your insurance policy.

I have written a book entitled “What You Don’t Know About Buying Car Insurance Can Hurt You”. If you are a Kentucky residence order a copy and get the information you need to financially protect your family.

It is spring time and bicycles, scooters and walkers are everywhere. Unfortunately there are going to be accidents. One of the questions that people have is who is going to pay for my medical bills and injuries if I am in an accident where I am hit by a car while on a bike, scooter or walking down the street. There are several insurance policies to look toward for payment.

First, let’s look at payment of medical bills. Personal Injury Protection or PIP applies. You first look to the insurance of the car that hit you for PIP benefits that insurance will pay for up to $10,000.00 of medical bills and loss wages. If the car that hit you does not have insurance you would look to your personal car insurance policy. I know you weren’t driving your car, but the PIP Benefits will still apply and pay your medical bills. It is secondary to the at-fault car. Your insurance company will attempt to collect the money they pay for medical bills back from the person that hit you if they choose. If you do not own a car and do not have car insurance you will submit your bills to your health insurance. If you do not have health insurance you may be eligible for the Kentucky Assigned Claims Plan.

Now what about pain and suffering? Do you have a case for personal injuries if you are hit while on a bike, scooter or walking? YES! You will sue the person that hit you. If they have insurance you will deal with their insurance company. If they do not have insurance you would look to their personal assets. Should they have no assets do not give up. You should look to your own car insurance and your uninsured motorist coverage. Even though you were not in your car this coverage may be available to you and pay you for your pain and suffering for your injuries. You need to contact an attorney who is familiar with these claims so he can take a look at your policy. Depending on the policy language you may still be able to recover damages. The point is, don’t give up. Look at all available coverage to make sure you are compensated.

I have become frustrated. Most people who are injured in automobile accidents don’t immediately think to call a lawyer. They are hurt, in pain and want to get better. They are focused on getting treated for their injuries. So they go to their doctor to find out what is wrong with them. They want to get treatment so that they will feel better.  Many times after a month or two they are still in pain. During this time they have spoken to their insurance adjuster on a regular basis. All the time thinking that they are getting advice that is for their benefit. Advice that they believe that is intended to help them. Then the hammer falls. The payments of medical bills are cut off, a low offer is made to pay for the totaled car and no offer is made to settle the pain and suffering claim.

            This is when the thought that “I need a lawyer” comes into the picture. The insurance adjuster has shown their true colors and it is obvious that they are not looking out for the injured person’s best interest. Many, many times the damage to their accident case has been done by this point in time. This is damage that will decrease the value of their case, or even worse make it impossible to prove their case and collect the fair settlement that they are entitled to. Little cracks in the case can turn into huge potholes that cannot be repaired. No matter how much attention is given to repairing them.

            I have had many people come into my office months after the date of the accident, sometimes even years. They had assumed that the insurance company would steer them in the right direction. Tragically this is often not the case.

            I am writing this The Kentucky Accident Attorney Blog so that the consumer, the accident victim, can have a chance. That they can be placed on an even playing field with the insurance industry. This is a David v. Goliath challenge. Especially considering the huge amount of money the insurance industry has at its disposal. Knowledge is power and my hope is that this blog will help arm you with the information necessary to avoid the Potholes that can destroy your Kentucky accident case. My hope is that you will put this knowledge to work for you.