How To Determine What You Are Owed for Future Medical Expenses
When you are injured in an accident or incident through no fault of your own, you have the legal right to pursue compensation from the at-fault party. This is most often accomplished via the filing of a personal injury lawsuit. A personal injury lawsuit might be the most appropriate course of action for your situation if you’ve been injured in a car accident, truck accident, slip and fall, or other type of preventable accident.
The purpose of filing a personal injury lawsuit is to recover your compensable losses. These are the damages you have suffered as a result of your injuries. For many accident victims, medical bills are often the largest source of financial loss, creating an enormous burden that is difficult (if not impossible) to address on top of other damages, such as lost wages and property damage.
If you’ve been injured in an accident and agree to a personal injury settlement that does not fully address the scope of your future medical care, you will miss out on compensation that is essential to your financial, physical, and emotional recovery. For this reason, the personal injury attorneys of Bey & Associates will take extra care when helping you determine what you are owed for future medical expenses.
What Are Future Medical Expenses?
Your future medical expenses are the costs you are anticipated to incur over the lifetime of your injury. The amount of time you will need to look into the future will vary greatly depending on the type and severity of your injury.
For example, a broken arm may be fully healed within a matter of eight weeks, while a broken leg may take six months or longer to heal before a victim can even begin to attend physical therapy. Victims of spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries may need to anticipate a lifetime of related medical expenditures.
How To Determine What You Need for Medical Care in the Future
Securing a correct and accurate diagnosis is the first step to determining how much compensation you will need to address all of your future medical costs. If you believe that a doctor incorrectly diagnosed your injury or misread any test results, do not hesitate to advocate for yourself or to seek a second opinion. You and your lawyer cannot accurately calculate your anticipated medical costs if you do not have the correct diagnosis.
Once you have the correct diagnosis and have learned what your expected recovery will be, you can begin calculating the costs of your care. Medical expenses may encompass:
- Surgeries
- Hospitalizations
- Prescription and over-the-counter medications
- Tests, including imaging like X-rays and MRIs
- Physical and rehabilitative therapy
- Appointments with specialists and any follow-up care
- Nursing home or residential facility costs
- Medical devices
- Ambulatory and mobility devices
- Modifications to your home (such as installing a wheelchair ramp)
- Mental health care, including speaking with a therapist
No accident victim should ever feel as if they have to forego necessary medical treatment because they lack the funds to cover it. Personal injury lawsuits are essential to those who have been injured due to another person’s negligent or reckless behavior, as they can provide financial compensation for these and other costs.
How To Prove What You Are Owed for Future Medical Costs
Most personal injury cases are not filed against the at-fault party themselves, but rather against their insurer. Auto insurance and homeowner insurance companies are typically the ones responsible for paying out settlements and personal injury awards. However, it is important to remember that these are for-profit businesses that prioritize their bottom lines over helping injury victims.
At every turn, the insurance company will try to discount your version of events, limiting your right to compensation. It is up to you to prove to the insurer that the amount of compensation you have calculated is what you are rightfully owed. Proof that supports your claim may be found in:
- Your medical records
- Testimony from your physician
- Testimony from an expert witness
- Accrued medical bills
When you are preparing a personal injury case to recover compensation for your medical expenses, it is essential that you preserve as much evidence as possible. You can do this by:
- Taking pictures that document the progression of your injuries
- Keeping copies of all your medical bills
- Taking notes at your doctor’s appointments
- Documenting all phone calls with your health insurance company
When in doubt, speak with your attorney about how you can best preserve evidence and document the extent of your injuries.
Do You Need a Lawyer To Determine What You Are Owed?
Correctly calculating the amount of compensation you will need for future medical care is exceedingly difficult to do without the guidance of a qualified attorney. Insurance companies have a wide range of tricks and tactics they use to lower settlement offers, including disputing how much you are owed for your past, current, and future medical expenses.
Hiring a personal injury lawyer is one of the most effective ways to show the insurance company that you mean business. You know how much your claim is worth, and you aren’t willing to accept anything less.
Bey & Associates Are the Personal Injury Lawyers Who Care
At Bey & Associates, our lawyers are experts in personal injury law. We specialize in a number of practice areas, including car accidents, truck accidents, work injuries, nursing home abuse, and more. We also help families file wrongful death claims on behalf of their lost loved ones.
Our law office serves areas nationwide, and we offer free consultations to injury victims, so be sure to contact our office if you have questions about your claim or are not sure how to determine what you are owed for future medical expenses. Do not delay—you have only a limited amount of time to file your case.