Can you use your health insurance if you are injured in a car accident?

Yes, but before your health insurance pays your medical bills, your health insurance company may want a letter from your auto insurance company, stating there is no coverage for your injuries, or the coverage under your auto insurance has been exhausted.

There is a clause called “Coordination of Benefits” in health insurance policies, where other insurance covering the same medical expenses as your health insurance needs to pay, and those medical expenses covered by other insurance will not be paid by your health insurance.

If you have mandatory coverage covering medical expenses from car accident injuries on your auto insurance, don’t automatically take the highest deductible thinking your health insurance will cover it. Your health insurance may pay nothing, except additional expenses, once the auto insurance has paid its limit.

For example, you have a $1,000 per person deductible for medical payments on your auto insurance. You, your wife, and your 2 children have minor injuries from a car accident. You will have to pay up to $4,000 for your medical bills before your auto insurance pays, which your health insurance won’t cover. Per person deductibles can add up fast to a substantial amount.

How you, your family, and passengers are covered for injuries from a car accident by your auto insurance depends on state law.

Some states have Personal Injury Protection (PIP) laws, which pay for injuries sustained from the use of your car, regardless if anyone was legally at fault for the injuries.

These laws require insurance companies issuing auto insurance in your state to offer you a coverage called Personal Injury Protection, which gives you a certain dollar amount of coverage for medical payments per person, as well as some coverage for disability and funeral expenses, should lost wages, or death, occur from the car accident.

Some states having Personal Injury Protection laws make the coverage mandatory (you have to have it, if you also have liability coverage on the car), or optional. If PIP is optional, you usually need to decline coverage by signing a form.

The amount of coverage, and how it works, can vary greatly from state to state. If you want to know if your state has a PIP law, and how the coverage works, you can find out at your state department of insurance website.
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Most auto insurance companies offer an optional coverage called Medical Payments coverage, which has a per person dollar limit, in states not having personal injury protection laws.

If your auto insurance offers no coverage for you or your family if injured in a car accident, or if the auto insurance has paid its limit, you should be able to use your health insurance to cover additional health care costs. Contact your health insurance company to find out if there are any limits for auto-related medical expenses.

If you don’t have health insurance, like many Americans these days, contact your insurance company, and find out the cost for the maximum PIP/Medical Payments coverage, and buy it if you can afford it. This coverage won’t help you if you get sick, but if you are in a car accident, or even if you break your hand in your car door, you have some coverage for your injuries.

Here is what you should do to make sure you have the coverage you need, and you are not wasting money on coverage you don’t need:

1. Know how your health insurance works. A lot of people think they have good health insurance, only to be shocked ( and sometimes bankrupted) to find out how expensive their out of pocket expenses can be, from deductibles, dollar limits, 20% co-payments, medical expenses not covered, out-of-network costs, etc.

2. Be aware of how much your out-of-pocket expenses could be for your health insurance if you or your family are injured in a car accident, then coordinate your auto insurance coverage to supplement you health insurance. Your auto insurance company/agent can help you with your options.

Even with required coverage by PIP laws, how much additional medical coverage offered can vary among car insurance companies. Research the coverage available, and get multiple auto insurance quotes to find the best insurance company for you.

Have you used your health insurance when injured in a car accident? Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch. See auto & home insurance company reviews rating each company’s pricing, claims handling and customer service for over 40 different companies; customer complaint analysis for the major insurance companies in each US State; term life insurance rate surveys and more, on my site’s home page at smartshopyourcarinsurance.com.