A Guide to Personal Injury Claims With Limited Healthcare Access In Indiana

In this article, you can discover…

• How to pay for medical care as a personal injury claim resolves
• What documentation you will need if your medical visits are limited
• How to maximize compensation even with limited healthcare

How Do You Pay For Medical Care While Waiting For Your Personal Injury Claim To Resolve?

Having health insurance will make a positive difference in paying for medical care as you wait for a personal injury claim to resolve. It’s the simplest way to help you cover medical bills.

Hospitals providing immediate emergency room treatment are required to treat you by law, regardless of your ability to pay. This helps you get immediate medical care, but the bills from this emergency and first responder care can be considerable. What options are available to you?

One possible option to consider is auto insurance. Some auto policies have a “Med-Pay” option, wherein your medical expenses could be paid for one to two years after a traumatic accident. However, this coverage tends to be on the low side. Sitting down with medical bills and deciding which ones to pay immediately, which ones to pay in installments, and which ones to wait on can be helpful at this step.

Some providers may agree to defer payment for treatment until a settlement is reached. This will still require a written legal promise on your part that the full amount owed will be paid or that a lien be given on settlement proceeds. This is a rare option and has been most common with chiropractic care.

If insurance companies are strongly contesting your claim, you may decide to settle for a lower amount to avoid being awarded nothing by a court. By then, most or all of your award funds may be needed to pay back medical bills, leaving you with very little for yourself.

In every case, the best option for you as an injured party is to have health insurance.

How Does Limited Access To Healthcare Affect The Valuation Of Your Claim?

Understanding how much your claim is worth depends greatly on assessing the severity of your injuries. This assessment, as well as your recovery, requires access to quality healthcare, physical therapists, and specialists.

A knowledgeable attorney can help direct you toward the right healthcare providers, even if you live in a rural area. Evaluations can then be done and recommendations can be made to help not only improve the quality and speed of your recovery, but also improve the valuation of your claim.

Attorney Thomas Scifres is a seasoned lawyer serving Indiana. For over 30 years, he’s helped injured and minimally insured clients just like you navigate personal injury law and helped them win significant damages.

Minimally insured and facing a personal injury? Unsure of where to turn? Allow Thomas E. Scifres to review your case. Call us at (812) 359-8007 for an initial consultation today!

What Documentation Is Crucial When You Have Limited Medical Visits?

Liability insurance companies make their decisions about the severity of an injury and value of a claim based primarily upon how your injuries are documented. Medical records relating to the injury will be vital to your case. This includes documentation from a hospital or specialist about the nature of the injury, the cost of treatment, and the scope and extent of your recovery.

It’s important to be honest and forthright in describing your injuries to attending doctors and nurses; doctors and nurses will often note if they suspect exaggeration or attempts to guide the medical process. Simply be truthful, make speedy recovery your priority, and allow your lawyer to focus on valuing your claim.

Be sure to attend all scheduled appointments, and call ahead to reschedule if you can’t make an appointment. Follow all medical recommendations given (such as instructions to not put weight on a foot) so that insurance companies can’t claim your injuries aren’t genuine. All missed appointments and failure to follow medical advice will be documented in your records. Following these simple steps will help protect you from allegations of a false or exaggerated claim.

What Are Some Other Strategies To Ensure Full Compensation With Minimal Healthcare Records?

In addition to the records created by your medical professionals, insurance companies will rely upon the statements of witnesses. You cannot control what other people say – only what you say. Being a credible and sympathetic injury victim will help maximize compensation. Be truthful, be honest, and don’t try to guide the process. Few things damage credibility, as surely as suspected lying, exaggerating, or manipulation.

Keep your focus on recovery and getting back to work. Insurance companies and jurors are more likely to respect a person who’s sincerely trying to get their life in order and move forward, and this respect generally translates to higher damages.

Can You Tell Me About A Time When You Were Able To Assist A Client Who Did Not Have Healthcare?

Emotional damages can be considerable in certain cases where healthcare is limited. One such instance that comes to mind involved a client who had the right of way and hit a man pulling onto the country road on which she was driving. She assumed he could see her, not realizing that the sun was blinding him.

While his injuries were the most severe, his negligence was the cause of the crash, and my client’s emotional distress at hitting someone who turned out to be a family friend was considerable, and the damages she was awarded for her emotional distress resulted in an excellent financial outcome for her.

For more information on Personal Injury Claims With Limited Healthcare Access, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (812) 359-8007 today.