If you get hurt in a car accident or any other incident because someone else was negligent, you deserve to get compensated for your losses. If they or their insurance company are unwilling to pay the full amount, you can file a personal injury lawsuit. That lawsuit demands compensation for all of your losses associated with the accident.
While there are several common types of losses that you can sustain in an accident and recover compensation for, the chief type among them is for your medical expenses.
While your medical costs may seem intuitive, they can still be worth a full explanation.
Your Medical Expenses from the Accident are All-Inclusive
The key point to know about the compensation that you deserve to cover your medical expenses is this one: You deserve compensation for all of your losses that are associated with the accident.
Especially if the accident was a serious one, you are likely to have a lot of medical bills from different healthcare providers. You deserve compensation for all of them. This does not just include the readily apparent costs, like those that the hospital sent. It also includes:
- Ambulance fees
- Co-pays
- Out-of-network fees
- Anesthesiologist charges
- Physical or occupational therapy
- Costs of obtaining medical devices, like a wheelchair, brace, cast, or prosthetic
So long as the expense was associated with the injuries that you sustained from the accident, you are entitled to receive compensation for it.
Of course, this limitation can drive much of the conflict between you and the negligent driver and their insurer. They are likely to say that some of your losses were because of a pre-existing condition and that they should not have to pay for them.
Both Past and Future Care are Included
Another important point to know about the compensation that you deserve for your medical care is that it reaches into both the past and the future.
At the moment when you file a lawsuit or an insurance claim, you will have paid for medical care and will likely have unpaid medical bills stacking up. However, especially if your injuries were significant, you may also still be recovering from the accident and in need of medical care in the future. That future medical care can be significant, like an anticipated surgery, or minor, like a couple of follow-up appointments with your doctor to make sure you are making a full recovery.
Regardless of the amount, you are entitled to receive compensation for it. After all, it was associated with the accident, so you would not be paying for it, were it not for the other driver’s negligence.
This is critically important to remember, as insurance companies frequently try to settle car accident cases as quickly as possible. When they do, they generally only offer compensation for the medical bills that you have received, already. This leaves you on your own for your future medical care.
Contact the Car Accident Lawyers at the Smith Law Office
The personal injury and car accident lawyers at the Smith Law Office help victims in St. Joseph, Kansas City, Springfield, and the rest of western Missouri recover the compensation that they need and deserve. Contact them online or call their law office at (816) 875-9373 for legal representation.