The World of Auto Medical Coverage –
Necessary or Not?
Okay, So What’s the Deal with
Vehicle Medical Coverage?
Auto medical coverage, sometimes
called “med pay” in insurance-speak,
is
what kicks in to pay your doctor
bills, hospital expenses, even
funeral
costs if you, members of your
family, or anyone else driving your
car
(with your permission) gets hurt or
killed as a result of an auto wreck.
Medical bills covered are not just
the catastrophic kind that require a
screaming ride to the emergency room
in the back of an ambulance – they
also include minor injuries such as
wrenching your back while trying to
get great Aunt Agnes out of the back
seat or slamming your finger in the
car door while she’s yelling at you.
Med pay will also pay all the
above-mentioned costs if you or a
family member takes a hit from a
roving vehicle while walking down
the street or are unfortunate enough
to be in someone else’s car that
gets smashed. It does NOT cover your
best pal, Harry, or your third
cousin twice removed to whom you may
have
given permission to walk down the
street or get in someone’s car other
than yours. Even as much as some
like to bash insurance companies,
one
has to admit that would be
unreasonable.
No-Fault or Not?
You do need to know what type of
medical coverage you are getting on
your car policy. Most med pay
policies turn a blind eye to which
driver
caused the accident, but some do not
cough up a payment until your major
medical insurance, uninsured and/or
underinsured motorist coverages, or
the other driver’s bodily injury
liability insurance is exhausted.
Med
pay policies that set these limits
are called “excess medical,” and
though they are tighter with regard
to the circumstances under which
they will pay, the premiums are
quite a bit less than the type of
medical coverage that will cover
regardless of what other health
coverage you may have. You can also
get med pay from some insurers at a
slightly lower rate if you’re
willing to pay a deductible
(out-of-pocket
expense).
Think Before You Decide
Skimping on or eliminating med pay
coverage is tempting if you count on
your health insurance to cover any
car crash medical bills. But don’t
forget a couple of important things:
Although you and your family will
be covered by that health policy,
your great Aunt Agnes or your kid’s
best friend who might be along for
the ride won’t be. And if anyone in
the wreck gets killed, your health
insurance certainly is not going to
pay for the funeral – but med pay
will.
So say you have a great,
comprehensive health care policy
from where you
work, the deductible and/or
co-payment is something you can live
with,
and it looks like the only thing you
really need to think about is
paying for someone outside the
immediate family’s funeral or their
medical bills if you’re involved in
a major smash-up. Do you really need
auto medical insurance? Like almost
all insurance, it’s a gamble, and
only you can calculate your own
personal odds. Are you a single
person
with no friends who always rides
alone and already has your funeral
expenses taken care of? Or are you a
soccer mom who regularly carts
around a carload of kids? It’s
really up to you to decide what
you’re
willing to risk and what you’re
willing or able to pay. Just
remember:
The spirit of great Aunt Agnes may
haunt you forever if you don’t take
care of her, and you may forever be
smashing your finger in the car door
trying to get out because she’s
still yelling at you from beyond the
grave.
But then again . . . nah.
Check the Law!
And last, but certainly not least,
here is one very important note:
Auto
medical insurance is required by law
in some states, though you do still
retain the right to decide how much
coverage you are willing to pay for.
To find out if yours is one of those
states, visit the Web site of the
National Association of Insurance
Commissioners (NAIC) at
www.naic.org/state_contacts/sid_websites.htm
and click on your state.
This will take you to your state’s
insurance board where you will find
a
wealth of information you may or may
not be straining at the leash to
learn regarding auto insurance,
including, of course, auto medical
coverage.
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