No-Fault Insurance: What is Medical Payments Coverage?

Ensuring Compensation for Personal Injuries

At Torgenson Law, our firm’s number one goal is to ensure that our clients receive the compensation they deserve for their personal injuries. Of course, our mission is sometimes restricted due to the available insurance limits in a particular case. We have long preached to our readers and clients the importance of acquiring uninsured (UM) and underinsured (UIM) motorist coverage. UM and UIM coverage is crucial when the person who injures you has insufficient bodily injury insurance limits to appropriately compensate you for your damages. However, there is another type of insurance that is often overlooked that can provide additional coverage for your crash-related medical treatment. In Arizona, this is known as Medical Payments Coverage, or “MedPay.” In short, MedPay is additional coverage that you can purchase through your own automobile insurance carrier to help pay for your crash-related medical bills. Generally, MedPay ranges from between $1,000 and $5,000 in additional coverage, but it can be higher. One thing many people do not understand is that MedPay is a type of “no-fault” coverage. In that sense, it is similar to health insurance, as it will apply regardless of who is at fault for your injuries even if that person is you. For example, let’s say Parker caused a motor vehicle collision. While Parker suffered minor injuries due to the crash, Parker’s emergency room bill was $7,000. Because he was at fault for the crash, neither third-party liability insurance nor his own UM/UIM insurance would compensate him for his medical bills. Fortunately, Parker’s automobile insurance included $5,000 in MedPay coverage, which he could use even though he was 100% at-fault for the collision. Parker was able to use $5,000 and was left with a much more affordable emergency room bill.

Benefits of MedPay

An additional and sometimes overlooked benefit of MedPay is that you can request your MedPay benefits while you or your attorney are negotiating your third-party injury claim. In other words, even when someone else is ultimately responsible for paying your medical bills, your MedPay coverage is still applicable. So, rather than wait months or even years for resolution in your personal injury case, you can request your MedPay benefits as soon as you incur any medical bills.

Review Your Coverage with Torgenson Law

Ultimately, MedPay coverage is simply another option to ensure that you receive appropriate compensation for your injuries. Do not hesitate to contact your automobile insurance carrier to determine if you have MedPay coverage. In addition, our Torgenson Law attorneys are well-versed in the insurance language and offer a complimentary review of your vehicle insurance information to see what coverage is potentially available in your injury case. As always, if you, or someone you know, were injured in an Arizona car crash, please call Torgenson Law today at (602) 726-0747.  We would love to be your Arizona personal injury lawyer.

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• Major injuries and insufficient third-party insurance