If you or somebody you care about has been injured due to the negligent or intentional actions of another person or entity, you should be able to recover compensation for your losses. In general, this includes current medical expenses, lost wages, property damage expenses, and various types of pain and suffering losses. However, will you be able to receive compensation for expected future medical bills associated with the injuries caused by the negligence of the other party?
In the aftermath of a person sustaining an injury, the most important thing that a person needs to do is ensure that they receive adequate medical care. Our team of personal injury lawyers always recommends that injury victims wait until their doctor says they have reached maximum medical improvement before settling an injury claim. This helps ensure that the injury victim and their legal team are able to request complete payment for all medical expenses that have occurred.
However, it is not always possible to understand the total medical costs a person may incur as a result of an injury caused by another party. For example, certain injuries, including spinal cord trauma and traumatic brain injuries, may result in long-lasting or even lifelong disabilities. It would be unreasonable to ask a person to wait to receive payment through an injury settlement in these situations.
For instances where there is a good chance that a patient will incur medical expenses in the future as a result of an injury caused by another individual or entity, we have to plan ahead and ask for compensation for these future medical expenses through an insurance settlement or during the personal injury civil lawsuit process.
Before requesting compensation for future medical expenses, it is crucial for an injury victim and their legal team to work with trusted medical and economic experts who can fully examine the situation and properly estimate future expected medical expenses.
It is imperative for injury victims and their family members to work with an attorney in these situations. If an injury is serious enough to warrant a discussion about coverage of future medical expenses, you can be sure that the at-fault party and their insurance carriers will work diligently to limit how much money they payout in a settlement.
However, when you have an attorney by your side, you will have an advocate who can handle every aspect of the situation on your behalf. This will include conducting a complete investigation into the initial incident, determining liability, and handling all negotiations with the insurance carriers and the at-fault party. An attorney will work vigorously to secure all future medical expense payments that you may incur as a result of the negligence of the other party.
