One of the biggest foundations for your personal injury case in terms of "pain and suffering" is your medical care. It is then no surprise that what kind of injuries you received, and what doctors you saw are very important. The defense looks for opportunities to devalue your case, whenever they can, when it comes to your medical care. One of the ways they do this is to question whether or not you even saw your Primary Care Physican (PCP). Think about it, if all the medical care you received was from doctors not associated with your health plan, then it would take a clever defense lawyer to comment on that to make it sound nefarious as to why you did not see your PCP.
This is why, if you have a health plan with a PCP, it is extremely important that you see your PCP for your injuries in your personal injury case. By doing so, you not only obtain a documented visit to that doctor, but you remove a potential defense argument later as to why you did not go at all. Also, your PCP can help set the foundation for your medical care for other medical diagnostic tools, or referrals to other specialists like orthos or pain management. Thus, having your PCP actively involved with your medical care is a logical and good choice.
WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU DO NOT HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE?
But what happens if you do not have health insurance and an assigned PCP? Well, there are other ways of obtaining medical care. You can pay out-of-pocket. Or, if you have medical pay insurance under your auto policy, you can pay medical pays through that insurance source. Or, your personal injury lawyer can help you obtain medical care by signing a medical lien with the doctor directly, and then that doctor will get paid when you obtain a settlement for your personal injury case. This method of obtaining medical care is called "going on a lien with your injury case."
Going on a medical lien with your injury case is common, but it has to be used carefully. Like I said above, the defense will do whatever they can to devalue your case. The defense will try to use any relationship your lawyer has with doctors to make it seem nefarious that your lawyer helped you in obtaining medical care. However, if you have no health insurance, or medical pay insurance with your auto carrier, most people cannot afford to pay-out-of-pocket to obtain medical services.
Thus, your lawyer can help by getting you into liened medical care for your case. It isn't fair that the person who put you in the situation of having to get medical care, can try to devalue by commenting on how you obtained reasonable and necessary medical care. There are ways to cut off the defense from arguing this at trial, which is why you really need an experienced injury lawyer to help navigate the pitfalls when it comes to simply getting medical care for your injuries.
You never want to delay in getting medical services simply because you have not health insurance, which is another reason you need to speak to an experienced personal injury lawyer for your particular situation. If you have questions about your case, or you need help in getting medical care, you can always reach out to me for free. You can call me at 619.813.7955 anytime, as I take calls like yours every day. I would be more than happy to see if I can help you. With that said, stay strong. Attorney Mark
