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If you have to have surgery due to car accident injuries, your medical bills may add up quickly. Anesthesia, surgeons’ fees, inpatient hospitalization, and other medical expenses can quickly add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars – sometimes even millions. It is important to protect your legal right to be compensated for these serious costs. If not, you could be on the hook for paying huge medical bills, even though someone else is legally at fault for causing your injuries. The experienced personal injury lawyers at David Aylor Law Offices are here to help protect your legal rights after any car accident surgery.
How Will My Medical Bills Be Paid?
There are many medical bills associated with surgery. Before you ever arrive at the operating bill, you could have thousands of dollars in medical bills that are already piling up. Here are just some of the many medical bills that are associated with car accident surgeries:
- Emergency medical transport by EMTs or paramedics
- Treatment in the emergency department
- Surgery (including bills for the surgeon, surgical assistants, anesthesiologist, use of the operating room, the cost of anesthesia and other medications, etc.)
- Inpatient hospitalization
- Follow up care with your primary medical provider
- Consultations with specialists
- Rehabilitative services (physical therapy, chiropractic care, pain management, occupational therapy, speech therapy, etc.)
So how do all these bills get paid? These providers will not wait for a lengthy settlement process (or worse, litigation and trial) to be paid out of the proceeds of your personal injury claim. Luckily this is not the only way that your medical bills can be paid. First, if you have health insurance (including Medicare or Medicaid), the carrier must pay for these costs just like any other medical bill. This ensures that you get the timely medical care you need. If you later recover these costs in a personal injury claim, your health insurance company can seek reimbursement for the bills it paid related to the accident, but this is only after your lawyer receives these funds. You might also have other insurance policies (such as medical payments coverage on your own auto insurance policy) that also cover the cost of your medical bills.
What If I Am Out Of Work For a Long Time?
Under most circumstances, health insurance coverage through your employer will continue if you are temporarily out of work due to your injuries. But if you are out for months – or if you are unable to return to work at all – you could lose your insurance coverage. This can be a big problem for injury victims who have not yet received funds from a personal injury settlement or jury award. If you are in danger of losing your health insurance coverage, talk to your injury lawyer as soon as possible. Do not wait for your coverage to be canceled to take action. If you allow a gap in coverage, you could end up with thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills, which can, in turn, result in late fees or bad credit. By taking action early, you can explore all possible options for alternative health insurance coverage. You might be eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. You might be able to purchase coverage under a plan in the health insurance marketplace. You might even be able to pay for COBRA coverage to extend the benefits of the health insurance that is provided by your employer. The sooner you talk to your injury lawyer about these options, the less likely it is that you will face massive medical bills due to gaps in coverage.
What Other Compensation Am I Owed?
Medical bills are not the only source of compensation in a personal injury lawsuit. You are also entitled to compensation for your other financial losses, such as lost wages. If you are out of work temporarily, your employer can provide documentation of the number of hours you missed and your hourly wage. (Salaried employees can determine their hourly rate by prorating their weekly salary to a forty-hour workweek.) Multiplying these two numbers produces the value of your lost wages. But in the case of serious car accident injuries, such as those requiring surgery, you might be out of work on a more permanent basis. Negligent drivers who cause car accidents have the legal responsibility to pay for all lost wages – including those you will lose in the future after your case has been settled. These cases are more complicated. Your lawyer may need to hire expert witnesses to prove what you can reasonably expect to earn in the job market with your injuries and what the difference is between your pre-accident and post-accident earnings.
Financial losses are not the only compensation you are owed after a car accident. You are also entitled to compensation for your non-economic damages (broadly referred to as “pain and suffering”). In fact: compensation for non-economic damages is often larger than compensation for financial losses. This is why it is important to hire an experienced car crash lawyer who knows how to prove the fair value of all your pain and suffering. Our lawyers work hard to prove the value of your physical pain and discomfort, the emotional injuries you suffer, and the lost enjoyment of life that comes with being physically limited due to car accident injuries.
Experienced Charleston Injury Lawyers For All Car Accident Cases
You don’t have to spend hours online searching for “South Carolina car accident surgery lawyers near me”. The experienced auto accident attorneys in Charleston are right here at the David Aylor Law Offices. Our injury lawyers have years of experience handling all types of motor vehicle injury cases. Clients throughout South Carolina trust us to protect their legal rights after serious car accidents. Call (843) 548-1574 today to schedule your free case evaluation. With an experienced South Carolina car accident lawyer on your side, you can rest assured that your legal rights are being protected and focus on making the best recovery possible from your surgery and injuries.