Personal Injury Economic Damages Claims: Medical Expenses
If you have medical expenses after a personal injury, whether it’s a dog bite or a car accident, the process of filing a claim can be daunting. All the line items of each expense can become quickly overwhelming, and the documentation needed to prove each one can seem far too complicated to really get right. This is particularly true if the accident aggravated a pre-existing condition, such as a sore back. Can you file for both the direct and indirect costs? If so, can you file for 100% of the costs or partial coverage? Once you know what you can file for and how the decision-makers evaluate the evidence, it can be easier to move from one section to the next.
Medical Expenses and Personal Injury
If you’re wondering how personal injury medical expenses in a personal injury case are covered, the answer is not as straightforward as it may seem. It’s not as easy as the at-fault party writing a personal check to you or to your medical providers so that you can focus on getting better.
Florida is a no-fault car accident state, meaning that if you were in a car accident, you’re meant to go through your own insurance company — even if you did nothing to cause the accident. If you were involved in a different type of accident, such as a slip-and-fall in a convenience store, you might end up suing multiple parties (e.g., the owner of the convenience store franchise and its parent company). If you work with a personal injury lawyer in Bradenton, FL, it can be easier to sort out the details so you don’t miss a single source of funds.
Common Types of Medical Expenses
In Florida, you file for an array of medical expenses:
- Emergency costs: This includes the ambulance and any care provided at the accident scene.
- Procedures: This includes operations, testing, and any other major medical treatments.
- Medications: You can file for any and all prescriptions related to the injury, whether it’s an anti-anxiety medication or pain pills.
- Physical therapy: Many people go through a long recovery period after a personal injury. Physical therapy can help you strengthen your muscles and improve mobility so you lower your risks of future injuries (or re-injury).
- Testing: Whether it’s X-rays or lab tests, you can file for all costs related to testing.
- Medical equipment: If you need to purchase additional equipment, such as a walker or a CPAP machine, after the accident, you can file for the costs of the devices.
- Hospitalization: Extended stays in the hospital can quickly add up, in addition to the many other medical costs that you may incur during your stay.
- Mental health care: Not to be confused with emotional damage claims, you can file for the direct costs of psychological or psychiatric care.
- Future medical care: If your personal injury either triggered or resulted in a chronic injury, such as paralysis, you can file for the costs of future medical care. This may include anything from in-home care, such as a home aide, to ongoing surgical costs.
How to Prove Fault in a Personal Injury Care
Proving fault in a personal injury case is typically far from easy, and this is true no matter how cut-and-dry the case may look to you. From your perspective, the other party may have been completely at fault, but it may not come across the same way to a legal professional.
This is the main reason why Florida is a no-fault state when it comes to their car insurance policies — it removes at least some of the litigation needed to settle claims. Instead of insurance companies fighting over the nuances of the law, they simply cover the costs of the insurance holder. For severe personal injury claims, you can call in the help of experts and witnesses to explain the issue. Whether you’re working with a judge, jury, or arbitrator, you can ask people to make the case to cover your medical expenses.
How to Receive Payment for Personal Injury Medical Expenses
Different organizations may pay for medical expenses, so it’s important to have a handle on how the claims process works and what you’ll need to show to prove fault. Your health insurance, personal injury protection (PIP), or pre-settlement funding may all be called to pay for some or all of your medical expenses.
Here’s what to know about your personal injury medical expenses:
- Health insurance: Just as you might file a medical claim after seeing a primary care doctor, you can call on your private health insurance to cover the costs of your medical care. You’ll still be subject to your standard deductibles and any applicable co-pays.
- Personal Injury Protection: PIP is a part of your car insurance policy, and it’s required for all Florida drivers to remain legal on the road. The coverage amount depends on the type of policy that you have, but all Florida drivers are required to have at least $10,000 worth of coverage. As you might imagine, though, $10,000 won’t go very far if you’ve been in a severe accident.
- Medical payments: If you have a more comprehensive version of car insurance, you may be eligible for medical payment coverage in addition to PIP. This feature is essentially additional protection if you exceed your limits on standard PIP. The main difference is that medical payment covers direct costs, whereas PIP can cover indirect costs of the accident, such as physical therapy.
- Pre-settlement: A pre-settlement is essentially a loan, usually from a lender who believes that you will win your personal injury claims. You may also be able to appeal to your personal injury law firm in Florida for help with covering the most pressing bills.
Statute of Limitations for Florida
You can typically file for a personal injury claim up to two years from the date of your injury, and this is true regardless of how you were injured. However, there are some exceptions to the rule. For instance, if you were injured in an accident, but the true extent of your injuries didn’t become clear until six months after the accident, you can file after the statute as passed. Just keep in mind that no matter when you file, the longer you wait, the harder it is to win your case.
Why Medical Expenses Matter
It’s not news that personal injury medical expenses can balloon quickly. During your recovery period, you can end up amassing more than you think, particularly if you need unexpected follow-up care.
For instance, your doctor may have first diagnosed you with a clean broken bone that should only need a cast for a few weeks, only to find that the break didn’t heal as expected and you’ll need ongoing physical care to regain partial mobility. If you don’t have a solid plan for how to recoup those medical expenses, you can end up with partial coverage — leaving you on the hook to pay for all remaining costs out of pocket.
Why a Personal Injury Lawyer Matters
It’s not easy to tally expenses, track down experts, and argue the many nuances of a personal injury case, and this is true for healthy people who know the law like the back of their hands. Those who were injured in a personal injury case need to be focused on recovery — not on filing endless paperwork or attempting to track down witness statements. With the right personal injury lawyer, you get the legal support you need while getting medical treatments that can literally save your life (or at least improve your quality of life).
Call the Offices of Shapiro Law Group, P.A.
If you’re looking for a Florida personal injury lawyer, you’ll have no trouble finding professionals who make all the right promises. If you’re looking for people with real expertise and a proven track record, though, you won’t regret calling the offices of Shapiro Law Group, P.A. Our personal injury attorneys understand the complexities of the healthcare system,and we use that to our advantage as we calculate the final totals. If you’re looking for a team that can break down your bills into a manageable claim, so you don’t miss a step in the process, contact us today to get started.
