Why is Med Pay Important and Why Should You Carry it?

Have you heard the term “Med Pay”?  Med Pay is short for medical payment coverage in an automobile insurance policy. Under Med Pay, the policyholder is generally covered for reasonable medical expenses if he or she is in a car accident, regardless of fault. Med Pay also generally covers passengers.  However, there are some restrictions.
Should you carry Med Pay on your auto insurance even if you have health insurance? Yes.  Why?  The majority of car accident victims suffer soft tissue injuries, such as whiplash, which may require chiropractic treatment.  Not all health insurance policies cover or offer chiropractic treatment.  So, your health insurance may not help you in this situation.
Second, your choice of a health care provider may be limited if you have to choose from a pre-approved network of health care providers accepted by your health insurance company.  You have no such restriction when using med pay. Third, under some health insurance policies, you would need to get a referral from your primary care doctor before additional treatment. If your health insurance policy requires such a referral, then your treatment can be delayed.  You have no such restriction when using med pay.
Med Pay should not be substituted in place of health insurance because med pay has a policy limit and only covers car accidents, while your health insurance may not.  You should carry Med Pay in addition to health insurance.  If you are covered by health insurance, submit as many bills as you can to your health insurance first because you may not have a policy limit on your health insurance. Try not to use Med Pay for emergency care, urgent care, hospital and/or ambulance bills. Submit these bills to your health insurance and keep the Med Pay open for treatments such as chiropractic bills, co-pays and medication.
We recommend that you contact your auto insurance agent and ask him or her if you carry Med Pay on your policy and how your Med Pay works because they are different types of Med Pay provisions.  This is yet another reason why you should purchase insurance through an agent as opposed to purchasing it online.
For more information, please call The Mason Law Firm, 27240 Turnberry Lane, Suite 200 in Valencia at 661-362-0805 or email mr.law@scvlawcenter.com.