Health insurance is helpful for making sure that you can immediately begin to seek medical care after an injury. Yet, using your personal health insurance can cause some complications during the settlement process. Although every case is different, you can expect for certain things to be similar among personal injury cases.

When Do You Need to Use Your Health Insurance After an Injury?

Since you typically need immediate medical care following an injury, you might not have access to the other party’s insurance information. This means that you may need to use your personal health insurance to get treatment while the rest of the details of your case get worked out. During this time, you may need to pay copayments and other out-of-pocket expenses. Make sure to keep detailed records of any money that you spend so that you can give the information to your attorney.

Can a Health Insurance Company Go After Your Settlement?

Health insurance companies are often entitled to be repaid for certain costs that they cover. For instance, a portion of your settlement may be allocated to the health insurance company to pay back any medical costs that they paid as the result of the other party’s negligence. This is often the case with government-based health insurance plans. Working with an injury attorney can help you make sure that you get to keep the amount of your settlement that belongs to you.

How Do You Make Sure the Other Party’s Insurance Company Pays?

Your personal health insurance company may choose to file a lawsuit against the other insurance company to recover their costs. If this happens, then you may be required to participate in the case. If you are struggling to get the other party’s insurance company to cover their responsibility, then you can also work with an attorney to make sure that your medical costs and other expenses are covered.

How Much Money Will You Get to Keep?

Trying to figure out how much money you get to keep is tricky. Health insurance companies should only receive the amount of your settlement that they paid out, and this amount might be even less if they are expected to cover some aspects of your medical care. You might have also spent your own money to pay for your health care, and it is common to need compensation for lost work time and pain and suffering as well. Staying actively involved in your case helps you to make sure that you get to keep the money that you need for a healthy recovery.

Personal injury cases get complicated during a time when you need to be focusing on getting better. Unfortunately, it is not in your best interests to try to stand up to a large health insurance company alone. Make sure to secure representation that can help you through this difficult process, and you can feel more confident about having the funds that you need after your settlement is finalized.

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan