Should the insurance company cover my medical expenses?

MDs, dentists, chiro's... I've dealt with all of them and drastically different rates apply when insurance gets billed. Clerical expenses, plus the delay in getting paid, the hassle of denied claims that have to be rebilled to the patient all play into the higher fees. Quick cash flow is a strong incentive to apply a sliding scale.

 

MDs do have it-that's how we pay copays.
Chiropractics may not be covered by your main coverage, but may be out sourced to others. If you are seeing a chiropractor that your insurance does not cover, you still would give him/her your insurance information and they could then find a providing coverage that coincides with your main coverage. For instance, my chiro visits were $40 and he had the remainder covered by some insurance company that was in partnership with the coverage I had. When I switched companies, my visits went to $50 because the co-insurer was different.

 

The difference here is that chiropractors aren't real doctors. They can refuse service where M.D.'s may not. Good luck finding an attorney who is going to go after a $650 case when fees alone will be at least double that. On top of that, attorneys are likely not to bother with a small claims case when there was no serious damage involved, no negligence involved and a waiver was signed of the "victims" free-will. So while a free consultation may not hurt, don't expect them to pick it up or jump at the chance to handle a potential small claims case that would be circumstantial at the very best. Small claims is about being made whole, not voiding contracts that a party willingly signed & agreed to. Buyers remorse anyone? My attorney isn't cheap & he would laugh his fool ass off if someone came to him with this. Just sayin'. A lesson has been learned & an affordable solution has been found. Most aren't so lucky

 

MDs can refuse service. Just sayin'

 

When I say refusal of service I'm talking about emergency service. If you owe thousands to a PCP, then they have the right to drop you. A chiro doesn't come anywhere close to emergency service and in some cases is lumped in with cosmetic service. Naturally, all of this depends on a person's policy etc.

 

I think you're confused about exactly what a co-payment is. It's similar to a deductible (although very different otherwise) in that it represents an amount paid by the insured (i.e. YOU) to offset the expense. Most Property policy have a co-payment provision, especially commercial ones.

I asked a friend who places a lot of coverage for doctors and he's never heard of any insurance company that will cover the remaining charge if a patient is unable to pay the whole thing. He'd like to know who does provide that kind of coverage since he has a lot of clients that would love to buy it.

chelle, you signed away your right to sue the insurance company. You did it without duress and were compensated for it - the $200 you received. You already have acknowledged that was a mistake, so I'm just going to mention that it was a big one and move on.

When you signed that waiver, the insurance company washed their hands of you. They're done. You most likely won't find a lawyer willing to help you based on the size of your claim (only ~$650) and the fact that you already released the insurance company. It's simply not worth their time to take a small case that they most likely won't win.

To answer the question posed in the thread topic - they already did. You think they should pay more. It's too bad that you signed the waiver, because they might have, but that bridge has been crossed.

You're left with getting money from your boyfriend. If he won't pay or doesn't think that he does, you can take him to court. What will happen then, if he's smart, is that his insurance company will show up with a copy of the waiver you signed and the judge will tell you "too bad". And then you'll still have no money and most likely no boyfriend.

 

Since the insurance guru has now replied, I'm just gonna drop this here: Told you so!

 

Ah .. Lindy

So chelle could ask her boyfriend what kind of insurance his car club might have, to cover the event in which she was a passenger?
Come to think of it, I wonder if her status label would have been 'passenger' or 'co-driver'.

 

The car club angle only works if it's a sanctioned event I.E. not illegal. You may could argue negligence if an illegal event, but the waiver has been signed. It's done.

 

And would a legitimate event even allow a club member to bring along a non-member passenger? I'm thinking they would probably frown heavily on that - for insurance reasons.

I'm still confused over whose insurance was waived and whose insurance provided the $5000? Chelle?

 

His insurance covered her up to 5k. ER ate up $4,400. So the $200 payoff would be for.damages/care/pain & suffering I guess

 

How is it even possible that you can sign a waiver? I have never heard of this waiver. That sounds like a huge 'legitimate' scam to me.

And to wonder why The Democrats didn't just nationalize the health insurance companies when they controlled everything... This is the only 1st world country where you would have this problem.

 

It's things like these that make me happy that I'm German and that insurance companies there can't offer some immediate compensation in exchange for a signed waiver. If it's covered by your or the accident-causing party's medical/car insurance, any and all relevant medical expenses within the policy-set limits (which I don't believe can be less than 50,000 €) must be paid out when required.

At least people like chelle can't get played as badly as the fat kid paying $20 to get his lunch back from his bullies.

 

That part of the discussion belongs in the politics forum.

 

We've had that discussion. Now people need to see what the reality of their decisions and beliefs are and how it affects their lives and others.

 

Chelle would have to verify this but I can almost see how this might have played out. Insurance company pays her a visit shortly after the incident. Tells her they will cover her for $5000.00 and give her $200.00 cash to waive additional for damages, etc. Never having been in the situation before and not being too terribly injured, chelle makes the assumption that $5000 should cover it, having no idea that the ER visit would tot up to so much until she gets the bill from them after the waiver has been signed. Three months later she realizes that she is still experiencing pain from the injury and needs further treatment.

What young, healthy person is all that knowledgeable about the cost of medical care and the dark underbelly of insurance companies unless they've had prior experience? Some maybe. Chelle, maybe not.

I believe she was preyed upon, manipulated, and taken advantage of by the insurance company and for all she's lost in the bargain I hope she realizes that sometimes the best education is obtained the hard way.

She'll be a much smarter cookie in the event something similar ever arises.

 

Ignorance isn't covered under the law but yes, some things have to be learned the hard way