neck and back injury from auto accident not getting better. Can you receive $ to cover future med. costs?
I was in an auto accident three months ago. I still have back and neck pain. I was originally sent to physical therapy which didn’t help. My doc. then sent me to a chiropractor who has helped a little, but just can’t seem to fix it. He took X-rays and found I have spondylosis (I guess I already had it but didn’t know. It was just aggravated by the accident) and scoliosis (which I knew I had). Both of these things are complicating my healing from the accident. The chiro doc is really trying hard, but says I’m a challenge. If he can’t fix it, and the physical therapist couldn’t, what can be done? I’m only 40, and was healthy and active before. Will the other insurance company (the person who hit me) cover future medical expenses if I can’t fix it and will need chiro or ortho care in the future? I’m afraid to sign anything until I’m all the way better, but don’t want this to drag on forever either. Any advice is really helpful, because I really don’t know what to do. Thanks!
Tagged with: auto accident • back and neck pain • chiro • chiropractor • drag on • google • insurance • insurance company • medical expenses • ortho care • physical therapist • physical therapy • Scoliosis • script type • text javascript • three months • x rays
Filed under: New York Herniated Disc Lawyer
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Hopefully I can shed some light on your problem for you.
I work in a Chiropractic office, and my job is to be the liaison between the insurance companies, the patients, and the attorneys [if the patient has one]. Our doctor specializes in auto accidents, we see them all the time and I know how much of a headache insurance companies are.
The fact of the matter is, the 3rd Party (that’s the other guy’s insurance) is responsible for all the care you use to get back to what they call "pre-accident status". If you’re slowly getting better, but it’s already been three months…it doesn’t matter. Keep getting therapy and going to the Chiro until your pain levels get down to where they were before. A lot of times with auto accidents, soft tissue injury is involved. It sounds like to me that’s what you’re dealing with. Now, insurance companies would like to ignore that. But it really is a long healing process…soft tissue can take FOREVER to heal. There have been many studies showing the long term affects of soft tissue injury resulting from MVAs. And there have also been many studies showing how stress and anxiety can really hinder the healing process. So, are you pretty stressed out? If so, it might be slowing your healing down.
So as far as compensation goes, the 3rd party is ultimately responsible for your medical bills. However long it takes. If you have someone at the office talking to the insurance adjuster, then you will have an easier time. All the insurance adjuster wants to do is settle as quickly as possible. A lot of times they’ll call you and pester you about how long your treatment has taken, and when you’re going to be done. Don’t listen to them! It’s their job to settle as quickly and for as little as possible. But it was their driver’s fault, it’s their responsibility to pay.
It may take several more months for you to reach pre-accident status and heal completely. In the meantime, just focus on getting better. Let the Doctor’s office worry about the insurance, that’s what they’re paid to do. In the end, the 3rd Party will settle with you. In general (and with the cases I’ve worked with) a decent settlement is where you get twice the amount of your medical bills. So if your bills in total came to $5,000…the insurance company should offer around 9 or 10k. The reason for the extra money is this: Aside from the medical bills that have racked up since the accident, that 3rd party needs to compensate you for all the things that you’ve missed out on because of the pain. For instance, you’ve had to miss work or you’ve had to miss social activities because of pain. Another thing they need to compensate you for is what they call "duties under duress". What that is, is things you do on a daily basis, that are now affected by the accident. You can’t pick your kid up, you can’t brush your teeth or wash your hair because your shoulder hurts. Things that you have to do on a daily basis that you can’t do now because of the pain. They have to pay you for your pain and suffering.
I’m saying this because a lot of people don’t really know what to do when it’s time to settle. They’re not sure how it works because they’ve never done it before. Good for you for not signing off on anything yet! And don’t, until you’re completely done with treatment. We’ve had patients involved in auto accidents that took 8 months to heal. Don’t feel rushed by the insurance company. The fact of the matter is, it depends on the individual person how long it takes to heal.
At this point, you may not need an attorney if the 3rd Party has accepted liability for the accident. If you do decide to retain an attorney, know that whatever settlement the 3rd party gives you…the lawyer will get a third of it right off the top.
Hopefully I’ve answered your question by now, but if you want to, you can email me and I’ll be happy to talk to you more about it.
You need a lawyer but I think you can get compensated.