What is covered: Any medical treatments deemed necessary. We see whiplash injuries from car accidents every day. Typically there is no cost to the patient for these chiropractic, massage, PEMF, or shockwave visits, as they are covered by the auto insurance instead of health insurance. The question is… if you get into an accident, will your massage and chiro bills be covered by your auto insurance?
No Fault Accident: If the accident isn’t your fault (example: you get rear ended) then it is the responsibility of the “at fault” party’s insurance to pay for your medical bills. You can get chiropractic, massage, therapy, acupuncture, time off work… whatever you need to heal.
Not every office works with personal injury liens, but we do! So if someone rear ends you, come in and get a evaluated and we’ll get you started back on track.
But what if they don’t have insurance?
Too often someone that hits you is an uninsured driver. You will have some uninsured driver coverage on your policy, but if there is significant damage, you may be out of luck. For this reason, I recommend carrying med pay on your plan (read more).
At fault accidents: If you are in a single car accident, or you are at-fault, then you are responsible for your own injuries. However, you can add “med pay” to your auto policy, which means that if you’re in an accident, your auto accident will cover your bills up to a certain amount, whether it was your fault or not.
Med pay is something I recommend carrying to all my patients, because it allows you to get services that your health insurance often does not cover, and your providers get paid right away, rather than having to wait for the case to close. You can use it whether it’s your fault, someone else’s fault, or with uninsured drivers.
What isn’t covered
Getting into a car accident doesn’t offer you a blank check to get whatever services you want. All treatments must be well documented and within the normal scope of practice. Also, if you weren’t 100% before the accident, then the insurance is only responsible to get you back to pre-accident status, not fully healthy.
The next steps
If you’ve been in an accident in the last 6 months and are still dealing with pain, give us a call and we’ll get you back on track. We’ll verify and help you work through your injury claim, and hopefully you’ll start to get the care you need with 100% coverage from your auto insurance.
