PIP vs. Health Insurance

You have a car accident. And now the bills for everything start coming in. What do you do?

1) Find your insurance declarations page (1st couple pages) and know what your PIP benefit is or if you’re in Washington, did you waive it? If so, request a copy of the waiver. If insurance can’t provide it, you get $10,000 in PIP coverage.
2) PIP is there (under your own insurance) to cover your medical bills, some wage loss, essential services and a few out of pockets on the front end of your case. Make sure your medical providers have PIP’s information including contact information and a claim #. PIP is your insurance for car accidents before health insurance.
3) Talk to your providers about their billing practices. Do they bill any balances owed after PIP to you? (In Oregon, they shouldn’t be). Do they file liens? Do they take payments? Are they in network for your health insurance in case PIP expires or exhausts?
4) Health insurance is only there to cover bills if you don’t have PIP or it has expired or exhausted.
5) If you keep receiving medical bills, call the provider and make sure they have all the right billing information and that they’ve properly billed your insurance, whether PIP or health insurance.
6) If you are left with any provider balances, find out their collections practices and see if they’ll wait to collect from any settlement/resolution, accept a payment plan, or letter of protection if you have a lawyer.
7) If PIP is gone, consider an in-network provider with your health insurance for ongoing care.

As always, consult a lawyer with questions! We all pretty much offer free initial consultations in this area!