WTVM Legal Break – Information on Med Pay
Injury & Accident Attorney Serving Nearby Areas of Columbus & Fort Benning, Georgia and Phenix City, Alabama
Gary Bruce discusses med pay insurance coverage and whether purchasing this coverage is a good idea for you. Med pay is a supplemental policy that is paired with your auto policy and is comes into effect if you or a passenger is injured in your vehicle. Med pay coverage pays medical bills submitted up to the amount of coverage. While all auto owners are required by law to have liability insurance, med pay coverage is not part of “full coverage” and no one is required to have med pay coverage in Georgia or Alabama.
Unsure if you have Med Pay coverage? Simply check your insurance policy to see whether you have med pay or not. If you have good health insurance and little to no deductible, med pay may not be for you – you should discuss that with your agent. Georgia and Alabama laws pertaining to med pay can be complicated so if you have questions about med pay coverage, if you have been denied a med pay claim, or have any other questions about your options following a wreck, please call the Law Offices of Gary Bruce for a free consultation and in-person meeting.
Find out more about how med pay can help you in Gary’s previous analysis of this type of insurance.
Transcript:
Maureen: Hello there and welcome to Legal Break. I’m Maureen Akers and with us today is Gary Bruce. As always, Gary thank you so much for joining us.
Gary: Good to be here again.
Maureen: Now, we have a viewer comment asking about med pay. They said they’ve had some issues with it and they’re not sure what it is or how it is different from regular health insurance.
Gary: I don’t find that surprising, we are seeing a lot of that. So, what is med pay? We’ve talked about this before a little bit, but it’s kind of a supplemental health insurance policy you can buy with your automobile policy – it will come as an add-on. You have to have liability insurance, you have to have certain kinds of insurance to legally drive on the road, but you don’t have to have med pay. Med pay is different and people really don’t even know if they have it when they come to see us. So, how do you know if you have med pay? First, look at and read your policy. If you have really good health insurance, there’s a good chance that you don’t need med pay. However, the purpose of med pay is to be used in connection with your automobile if you’re hurt.
Maureen: Well that’s the follow-up question too – should I purchase med pay and do I really need it?
Gary: I think you need to talk to your agent about that. You may need it, you may not. Like I said, if you have good insurance with no deductibles or low deductibles, I’m not really sure you want to get into that because doctor offices are sometimes hesitant to use it. Some doctors use it without any problems, some don’t. It’s really up in the air – if you have good coverage, it’s potentially an additional $100, possibly $200, you don’t really need to spend.
I think you need to talk your agent
Maureen: When would you use it?
Gary: Anytime you’re injured or a passenger of yours in injured in an automobile. Whether it’s your fault, whether it’s a deer, whether you hit a tree, or you’re in a car wreck caused by somebody else – med pay is supposed to pay the resulting medical bills. What happens is people send their bills to med pay, if they even know they have it. However, what we’re seeing is that it is denied routinely or loops are put up that people have to jump through that don’t make any sense. If you’ve had that issue, you have tried to apply for med pay, or you think you’ve had a med pay claim that wasn’t paid properly there is some relief out there and a few things people can do.
Maureen: So, what do you do? What do you do if you’ve been denied a claim through med pay?
Gary: Well, you probably need to call a lawyer because there’s a specific Georgia law that will allow you to get the relief you need. Frankly, they’re pretty sophisticated. So, if you have questions about it, feel free to call – that’s what we do and we’ll be happy to talk about it with you.
Maureen: Very good, thank you so much Gary, and we look forward to seeing you on the next Legal Break!
Read our most frequently asked questions to understand how and when the insurance companies will pay for injuries.
