Facing High Medical Bills After a Car Accident?
OMAHA, Nebraska. If you’ve been injured in a car accident in Omaha, Nebraska, you may be facing a range of challenges. Serious injuries can bring with them long recovery times, time missed from work, and immense pain and suffering for victims and their families alike. One of the biggest challenges that victims and families face after a car crash is high medical expenses. If you’ve been injured in a car accident in Omaha, Nebraska, the personal injury lawyers at Rensch & Rensch Law may be able to help you seek compensation to cover your expenses.
However, it can take some time to recover damages. Many families wonder how they can keep medical costs low and increase transparency in medical billing. ProPublica recently reported on how patients can protect themselves from unnecessarily high medical expenses. What are some strategies patients can use? First of all, patients should always check with doctors before any treatment is performed. Is it medically necessary? If you have insurance, your insurance company will likely have negotiated the prices of certain services. However, if you are uninsured, you have the right to ask doctors and medical staff how much a given treatment will cost before you receive care. Of course, in some cases, it is impossible to ask these questions. Much of the care you may receive after a car accident will be urgent care. However, if you need follow-up surgery, need rehabilitation, or other treatments, you may have some time to shop around. If you do have insurance, ask your medical provider to provide you with the billing codes the hospital or doctor will use. This way you can check to see whether a service is covered before it is provided to you.
After you have received urgent care, you may want to ask your hospital for an itemized bill of services provided. Not only can a detailed bill help your personal injury lawyer understand your injuries and costs, but you can also review the bill for errors. According to ProPublica, many medical bills contain errors. Don’t pay for another person’s mistake.
For example, Reuters recently reported on a medical error where a patient’s asthma was incorrectly labelled “anxiety.” This led to the patient receiving an out of pocket bill that she shouldn’t have received. Not only can mislabeling lead to unjust out of pocket costs, but it can create problems for individuals seeking personal injury damages from negligent parties. Imagine seeking compensation for paralysis, but learning your hospital bill has your diagnosis listed as something else? According to Reuters, as many as one in ten hospital bills may contain errors where a patient’s diagnosis is not listed correctly.
Understand your coverage, but make sure to take the time to review your medical records and bills. It is important that your diagnosis is properly listed and billed. If a bill isn’t being paid by your insurance company, take the time to call and find out why. Finally, if you are facing high medical expenses due to a personal injury, visit the personal injury attorneys at Rensch & Rensch Law in Omaha, Nebraska. Our firm can help you fight to seek the compensation you may deserve. Don’t shoulder those medical bills alone.
