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Why do you need to have health insurance for an injury claim?

Suffering a personal injury is often traumatic and scary. Whether your incident resulted in minor harm or catastrophic consequences, you should take steps to hold the responsible party accountable. Even if there is clear indication of negligence, though, this process is often more complex than simply filing a lawsuit. There are many other factors to take into consideration, and one of them is health insurance.

You might be wondering what health insurance has to do with a personal injury claim, but it actually is an important factor in your case. If you intend to pursue damages against the person or organization responsible for your injury, there are a few reasons you need to be insured. 

Investigation of finances 

According to the California Health Care Foundation, 1.4 million people have health insurance through Covered California, and many of these receive financial assistance that subsidizes a portion of the cost. The most common reason cited for being uninsured, however, is an inability to afford it. If you make this claim in an injury case, the court and opposing attorney may investigate your finances to verify whether this is true.

Lower value of case

Ultimately, if you are not insured or cannot afford insurance, your net value may not be sufficient to sustain a personal injury case. The potential damages to be recovered are determined in part by the injury itself, but it is also important that you be financially established enough to warrant the potential of a court battle.

Cover cost of treatment

If you are injured, the first thing you should do is seek treatment from a medical doctor. Without insurance, you will be paying out of pocket, and there is often a disparity in cost when treatment is billed to an insurance company. In many cases, the cost of insured treatment is higher than that of uninsured treatment, and this means your claim is potentially worth more, too.

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