Medical bills

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ven1

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I am a Physician under training in Florida. I was involved in an accident in January, 2010 . I was not a fault though I hit the car as the car was stopped on a wrong lane on a express way on Jan 10th. The other party got ticket and has 3 violations 1. Improper lane change / Pull out 2. Crash Failure to provide proof 3. Expired registration in last 6 months.
I was transported to county hospital had some ct scans for my chest and body to rule out bleed and there was no bleed and I was discharged 3 hrs later with some Percocet for body aches. About 10 days prior to this I was admitted in the same hospital for about 6 days for spontaneous carotid dissection after SCUBA diving in my neck and was treated by neurologist and got discharged once I was fine.
I went to work next day after accident as I do not want to miss my work as I was on sick leave earlier. The first 2 days were fine but 2 days later I got intense pain in my neck and my left shoulder. I took percocets, tramadol. I have seen my neurologist he prescribed some meds and did ultrasound of my neck and was told not to worry. I took Tramadol and flexeril for 2 moths for neck pain and now my pain is mostly resolved except frequent low intensity headaches.
Initially this accident affected my work my hands are shaking during work and am very anxious about all this but now I am fine. I was paid about 3400 USD for my car 98 corolla which is totaled . I accepted.
My ER visit costed about 15k and I was told that all my medical bills will be covered by the my insurance which Progressive(Policy 10 K bodily injury and 1000 deductible) and other party's state farm including Insurance ER visit. My progressive insurance paid about 9K and still about 6k is yet to be paid. I was told that the other party insurance Statefarm will be taking care of remaining bills. The other party is very slow in acting but I was told that I will get paid lump sum one time and I have to sign release forms. Their agent offered me 7.5 K.
I want clarification regarding payment of my medical bills if I accept their lump sum payment. I called my Medical insurance which is very good with 0 copay and I was told that they the amount 6 K will be taken car by my primary medical insurance and I donot have to pay anything. But other party auto insurance company says that I have to pay the bills with the money given by them and not by my medical insurance.
Please advise me regarding this . Do I need to hire an attorney for this case.
Thank you for your time
 
You need an attorney, if you want to keep the State Farm medical payments.

That money isn't intended for you to put in your pocket, after another insurer pays your medical expenses.

Insurance companies are chintzy anyway, and will fight you tooth and nail on this.

The law is on their side, too.


The money they pay you is for medical expenses, not personal enrichment.

If you accept it, you PROBABLY lose your right to sue them for anything else.

Insurance companies author extremely tight settlement agreements.

If you believe this isn't enough, you'll have ongoing medical bills, incur additional medical issues (as a result of the accident); DO NOT sign or accept the settlement.

Why do you think they want you to settle?

They're dangling a little money, encouraging you to sell any potential rights you might have for a few dollars.

Before you do anything, speak with a couple if personal injury lawyers.

They can describe additional options you may not know about.

I'll tell you from my experience, getting a lawyer involved makes the insurance company offers increase substantially (even if you have a shoddy case and an unsympathetic plaintiff.

Your future earning potential makes you the kind of plaintiff insurance companies fear.

Your case is bigger, much bigger than the paltry amount you've been offered.

Problem is, you won't get it tomorrow, and you might have to due to get it!!!

Speak with a couple of lawyers, think it through, and don't eat the seed corn.


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thank you for your message. I did speak to one lawyer. I was told that since I am fine now and my medical bills are more than 10 K and already paid by my auto insurance I might not get much from the case.
As far as I know I should not have any more medical bills . If state farm gives me about 10k and if there is money left over me after paying my bills , can I keep that money with me.
I am moving to other state and I want to settle this case before I leave.
Thanks
 
ven1 said:
thank you for your message. I did speak to one lawyer. I was told that since I am fine now and my medical bills are more than 10 K and already paid by my auto insurance I might not get much from the case.
As far as I know I should not have any more medical bills . If state farm gives me about 10k and if there is money left over me after paying my bills , can I keep that money with me.
I am moving to other state and I want to settle this case before I leave.
Thanks


You'll only receive reimbursement for medical expenses you've encountered.

If those amount to $7,500, that's all they'll pay.

The maximum coverage might have been $10,000, but you'll only receive what you've actually expended.

So, when you take the $7,500 (or whatever amount they pay), the claim will be closed. They'll consider your acceptance as full and final settlement.



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Thanks again for your reply. Their insurance offering me to pay 12k and asking me to take care of my remaining medical bills which may be about 7.5 K. I was guessing that I can keep remaining 4.5K with me and use if necessary.

When I spoke to atty, i was told that I may not be able to get much money out of this if he is involved after he takes his percentage.

Also the insurance agent told me that after I signed the bodily injury release
form, they will verify if my Medical insurance has lien on that or not. I did not understand this ?

Thanks
 
ven1 said:
Thanks again for your reply. Their insurance offering me to pay 12k and asking me to take care of my remaining medical bills which may be about 7.5 K. I was guessing that I can keep remaining 4.5K with me and use if necessary.

When I spoke to atty, i was told that I may not be able to get much money out of this if he is involved after he takes his percentage.

Also the insurance agent told me that after I signed the bodily injury release
form, they will verify if my Medical insurance has lien on that or not. I did not understand this ?

Thanks

I get it.

The insurance company is offering you $12,000 to settle.

Your medical insurer wants the money they're out of pocket, so far.

Too bad, you can pay them if you want.

Otherwise, the $12,000 is yours.

If you think that's fair, take it.

What you do with it is up to you.



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I appreciate your instant replies.
As I mentioned before My ER visit costed about 15k and my insurance Paid about 9K which is Progressive(Policy 10 K bodily injury and 1000 deductible) and other party's state farm has to pay about 6k till now.
Now the SF is offering me 12k and when I called primary medical insurance they told me they care of all expenses. But few of my friends told me that what my Medical insurance told me is not correct and eventually they will collect money from either state farm or from myself if statefarm has already made a settlement with me. Is that true?
So If I took 12k from SF and If I did not pay my medicals with this amount but let my medical insurance pay for this rest of the ER bills, Is that OK.

Also I donot understand why the claim representative told me that once I sign the settlement and forward to her she will verify if my Medical insurance has lien on it or not and draft the settlement accordingly
Thank you
 
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