How to Handle Your Medical Bills After an Accident

Hi. My name is Joe Moses and I’m a personal injury attorney based in Chicago, and for the last 30 years I have been representing injured motorcyclists and bicyclists when they’ve been involved in accidents. Today I’m going to talk about three things involving your medical bills if you’ve been involved in a personal injury accident.

Number one:  Why should the bills be paid by me rather than by the person whose fault it is? The first thing that I go to, my father always told me, “Life isn’t fair.” But the real reason for that is this. When you go to a doctor or a hospital or any other medical professionals, you’re the one that owes the money. The contract, so to speak, is between you and the provider. So, you owe that money. However, it’s my job as your attorney to make sure you’re reimbursed by the person whose fault it is. That’s the reason we take on these cases and that’s one of the main sources of recovery that we get.

Number two:  What if there isn’t enough settlement money to pay all your medical bills? Well, this even more so is an unfortunate situation. The first thing I would say is go to my previous video that deals with having the proper insurance so that this doesn’t happen to you. But if it does, and you get hit by the person who is at fault and doesn’t have sufficient insurance, there’s not going to be enough money to pay all of those medical bills. So my job, and we spend quite a bit of time doing this, is to negotiate down all of the medical bills, all of any liens on the case so that we can get you still properly paid for your pain and suffering.

Out of your entire settlement has to come attorney’s fees, has to come paying you for your pain and suffering, but also has to come paying any unpaid medical bills. We also, in those cases, have to repay your insurance company, your health insurance company, in case they have paid out any money for your bills.

Number three:  What should I do with medical bills I receive at home? So, despite the fact that we are negotiating all of your medical bills, and despite the fact that the hospital and all of your medical providers know and are put on notice that you’re represented, you’re likely to still get a lot of bills. Don’t panic. I know they’re going to be huge amounts, and it’s going to be very upsetting. But the reality is, that is part of your case. So we’re compiling all of those bills. You should let your attorney know of every bill you get, so we can make sure that there is no provider, no ambulance, no EMS, no other place that you may owe money to, and that way we can include that in your claim. And the more medical bills you have, usually the higher that claim is. The higher that claim is, the higher the recovery is. Most importantly is that we want you to come out of this, in addition to being paid for your pain and suffering, to not have any outstanding bills.

If you have any other questions, my name again is Joe Moses. I represent injured motorcyclists and bicyclists at the Law Firm of Kass & Moses in Chicago. Please call me at 1-800-MOTORCYCLE or 877-292-5344. Thank you.