What Car Insurance Covers When You Get X-Rays at Urgent Care

X-rays at urgent care are covered by your car insurance's medical payments coverage, not by your health insurance, if the visit is for injuries from a car accident

If you were in a car accident and went to urgent care for an injury that required an x-ray, your car insurance's medical payments coverage (also called med pay) will typically pay for the x-ray as part of the overall visit. You do not file the claim with your health insurance first — you file it with your car insurance company. The x-ray is treated the same way as any other diagnostic test or treatment you received during that urgent care visit.

The amount your car insurance pays depends on your med pay limit, which is the maximum dollar amount your policy will cover for medical expenses after an accident. Most policies have limits between $1,000 and $5,000, though you can choose a higher limit when you buy the policy. If your urgent care bill (including the x-ray) is $2,500 and your med pay limit is $5,000, your car insurance covers the full $2,500. If the bill is $6,000 and your limit is $5,000, you or your health insurance would cover the remaining $1,000.

Key Takeaways

• Medical payments coverage on your car insurance policy covers x-rays and other diagnostic services at urgent care if the visit is for accident-related injuries.
• You file the claim with your car insurance company, not your health insurance, by submitting the urgent care bill and a description of how the accident happened.
• Your med pay limit determines the maximum amount your car insurance will pay, and this limit applies to all medical expenses from the accident combined, not just x-rays.
• If your urgent care bill exceeds your med pay limit, your health insurance may cover the remainder, depending on your health plan's terms.

How to file an x-ray claim with your car insurance

Contact your car insurance company's claims department and tell them you were in an accident and received urgent care treatment that included an x-ray. You will need to provide the date of the accident, the location, and a brief description of what happened. The claims adjuster will ask you to submit the urgent care bill, which should itemize all services including the x-ray.

Most insurance companies accept bills by mail, email, or through their online claims portal. Once the adjuster receives the bill, they will verify that the visit was for accident-related injuries and that the charges are reasonable. If everything checks out, they will send payment directly to you or to the urgent care center, depending on your policy and the company's process. This typically takes one to three weeks.

Keep copies of all documents you submit: the accident report, the urgent care bill, any x-ray images or reports, and your correspondence with the insurance company. If the adjuster denies the claim or pays less than you expected, you will need these records to dispute the decision.

What happens if you also have health insurance

Your car insurance's med pay is primary, meaning it pays first. Your health insurance is secondary, meaning it pays only if med pay does not cover the full bill or if you do not have med pay. This is true even if you used your health insurance card at urgent care.

If you submitted the urgent care bill to your health insurance first, you will need to tell them that you also have med pay coverage through your car insurance. Your health insurance may ask you to file with car insurance first and then resubmit any remaining balance to them. Some health insurance companies will not process a claim until they know whether another insurance is involved, so being upfront about the accident prevents delays.

Med pay limits and what they cover

Medical payments coverage covers reasonable and necessary medical expenses that result from a car accident. This includes x-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, emergency room visits, hospital stays, surgery, physical therapy, and ambulance transport. It does not cover ongoing treatment unrelated to the accident, cosmetic procedures, or treatments for pre-existing conditions that were not made worse by the accident.

Your med pay limit is a per-accident limit, not a per-visit limit. If you were in one accident and went to urgent care three times for different injuries from that same accident, all three visits count toward the same limit. If your limit is $3,000 and the first visit costs $1,200, you have $1,800 remaining for future visits related to that accident.

When urgent care x-rays are not covered by car insurance

If you were not in a car accident, your car insurance will not cover the x-ray. Medical payments coverage only applies to injuries that result from a covered accident. If you went to urgent care for an unrelated illness or injury, you would file that claim with your health insurance instead.

Your car insurance also will not cover an x-ray if you do not have medical payments coverage on your policy. Some drivers choose to drop med pay to lower their premium, especially if they have comprehensive health insurance. If you do not have med pay and you were injured in an accident, your health insurance would be your only coverage for the x-ray and other medical expenses.

Deductibles and out-of-pocket costs

Medical payments coverage typically has no deductible, which means your car insurance pays from the first dollar. This is different from your collision or comprehensive coverage, which usually have a deductible of $500 or $1,000. You will not have to pay anything out of pocket for the x-ray before med pay kicks in, as long as the visit is for an accident-related injury and you are within your med pay limit.

However, if your urgent care bill exceeds your med pay limit and your health insurance is secondary, you may owe a copay, coinsurance, or the remaining balance, depending on your health plan. For example, if your urgent care bill is $4,000, your med pay limit is $3,000, and your health insurance covers 80 percent of the remaining $1,000, you would owe $200 out of pocket.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to go to a specific urgent care for my x-ray to be covered?

No. Medical payments coverage covers treatment at any licensed urgent care center, hospital, or doctor's office. Your car insurance does not require you to use an in-network provider or get pre-approval before going. However, the charges must be reasonable and necessary for the accident-related injury.

What if the urgent care center bills my car insurance directly?

Some urgent care centers will bill your car insurance directly if you tell them about the accident at check-in. In that case, you do not have to file the claim yourself — the center handles it. You should still keep a copy of the bill for your records and follow up with your insurance company to confirm payment was received.

Can I use med pay if I was partially at fault for the accident?

Yes. Medical payments coverage pays for your medical expenses regardless of who was at fault for the accident. This is one of the key differences between med pay and liability coverage. You can use med pay even if the accident was your fault, and it will not affect your ability to file other claims.

What if I did not report the accident to my insurance company right away?

Report it as soon as you can. Most insurance companies require you to report accidents within a reasonable time, often 30 to 60 days, though this varies by company and state. Delaying the report may make it harder to prove the injury was accident-related, but it does not automatically disqualify you. Contact your claims department and explain the delay.

Will using med pay increase my car insurance rates?

No. Medical payments claims do not affect your rates the way at-fault accident claims do. Using med pay is considered a claim on your own coverage, not a claim against another driver, so insurers typically do not raise your premium for filing a med pay claim.