One of the first concerns that people have after being involved in a motor vehicle accident is how will they pay for their costly medical bills. After all,an ambulance ride to the hospital can be up to $2,000 alone with an emergency room visit running into the thousands if there is a need for diagnostic testing (MRI, X-rays CT Scans).
Fortunately, if you were the operator or a passenger in a car that was covered under a Massachusetts Automobile Policy, you would be covered under a section of the policy known as Personal Injury Protection – or PIP benefits.
Massachusetts is a no fault state which means that the PIP benefits come into play regardless of who causes the accident. Your car insurance will pay the first $2,000 of your medical bills if you have private insurance (i.e., Harvard Pilgrim, Tufts, Blue Cross Blue Shield) or the first $8,000 of your medical bills if you have public insurance such as Medicare or Medicaid (also known as Mass Health).
If you have private insurance, then every bill after $2,000 will be billed to your health insurance carrier. However, anything your health insurance doesn’t cover because of a copay or deductible can be billed back to your PIP Insurance up to the $8,000 limit.
There are other factors that can come into play such as whether or not your health insurance plan is covered under a federal law known as an ERISA act, whether you went to a medical provider who is not in your health insurance network, or if you choose to have a deductible on your PIP coverage when you purchased your auto policy width- SOMETHING YOU SHOULD NEVER DO.
If you want to know more about the coordination of insurance benefits after a motor vehicle accident, need help getting your medical bills paid,/ or want to know why getting a PIP deductible is a horrible idea, please feel free to contact me at my office at 781-599-5001, cell phone at 978-852-0914, or via email at william@michaelmahoneylaw.com.