Does Your Car Insurance Cover Urgent Care After an Accident

What car insurance covers urgent care

Your car insurance does not cover urgent care visits. Car insurance pays for vehicle damage and liability claims — it does not pay medical bills. If you need urgent care after a car accident, you will use your health insurance instead, or pay out of pocket if you have no health coverage.

The one exception is medical payments coverage (sometimes called MedPay), which is an optional add-on to your car insurance policy. If you have it, MedPay will reimburse urgent care costs up to your policy limit, regardless of who caused the accident. This is separate from your health insurance and does not require you to prove fault.

Medical payments coverage is not the same as health insurance. It covers only the when ready medical costs of the accident — the urgent care visit, the ambulance ride, the emergency room bill. It does not cover ongoing treatment, physical therapy, or follow-up visits unless they are part of the same accident claim.

Key Takeaways

• Car insurance itself does not pay for medical care; your health insurance does, or you pay the urgent care center directly.
• Medical payments coverage (MedPay) is an optional add-on that reimburses urgent care costs after an accident, up to a limit you choose when you buy the policy.
• MedPay pays regardless of who caused the accident and does not require you to file a liability claim first.
• You should check your current policy to see whether you have MedPay and what your limit is, because many drivers do not realize they have it.

How medical payments coverage works after an accident

If you have MedPay on your policy, you can use it when ready after an accident. You do not have to wait for the other driver's insurance company to accept fault or for a settlement to be reached. You go to urgent care, show your health insurance card or pay out of pocket, and then submit the receipt to your car insurance company.

Your car insurance company will reimburse you up to your MedPay limit. Common limits are $1,000, $2,000, $5,000, or $10,000 — the amount you chose when you bought the policy. If your urgent care bill is $800 and your limit is $2,000, you get $800 back. If your bill is $3,000 and your limit is $2,000, you get $2,000 back and pay the remaining $1,000 yourself or through your health insurance.

MedPay also covers passengers in your car at the time of the accident, not just you. If you were driving and a friend was in the passenger seat, you can both file MedPay claims for your urgent care visits.

When to use health insurance instead of MedPay

Many people have both health insurance and MedPay. In that case, you can choose which one to use first. Using your health insurance first is often the better choice because it preserves your MedPay limit for costs your health insurance does not cover.

For example: you go to urgent care and the bill is $400. Your health insurance has a $50 copay, so you pay $50 and your health insurance pays $350. You could then file a MedPay claim for the $50 copay, and your car insurance reimburses it. This way, your MedPay limit stays mostly intact if you need more medical care later from the same accident.

If you do not have health insurance, MedPay becomes your primary way to pay for urgent care after an accident. File the claim as soon as you have the receipt from the urgent care center.

What happens if you do not have MedPay

If your policy does not include medical payments coverage, you will pay for urgent care through your health insurance or out of pocket. Your car insurance will not reimburse you for the medical bill itself.

However, you may still recover medical costs through a liability claim if the other driver caused the accident. Once the other driver's insurance company settles the claim, that settlement can include compensation for your medical expenses. This process takes longer — usually weeks or months — and requires proving the other driver was at fault.

If you caused the accident, you cannot recover medical costs from the other driver's insurance. In that case, health insurance or out-of-pocket payment is your only option.

How to check if you have medical payments coverage

Look at your car insurance policy documents. The declarations page (usually the first page) lists all your coverages and their limits. Medical payments coverage will be listed as "MedPay" or "Medical Payments" with a dollar amount next to it.

If you cannot find your policy, call your car insurance company's customer service number. They can tell you in minutes whether you have MedPay and what your limit is. Have your policy number ready, though the representative can usually look it up by your name and phone number.

If you do not have MedPay and want to add it, you can contact your insurance company to request a quote. The cost varies by state and by insurance company, but MedPay is usually inexpensive — often $10 to $30 per year for a $5,000 limit. You can add it to your policy at any time, though it will not cover accidents that happened before you added it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will using MedPay raise my car insurance rates?

No. MedPay is a reimbursement coverage, not a claim against your liability insurance. Using it does not affect your rates or your claims history. Your rates can only go up if you file a liability claim (meaning you were found at fault) or a collision claim.

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

Yes. MedPay pays regardless of fault. Even if you were 50 percent or 100 percent at fault, you can still use your MedPay to cover urgent care costs. This is one of the main reasons drivers buy it.

What if the urgent care center bills my health insurance and my car insurance at the same time?

Coordinate with the urgent care center's billing department before they submit claims. Tell them you have both health insurance and MedPay, and ask which one they should bill first. Most centers will bill health insurance first if you ask them to, which is usually the better order.

Does MedPay cover dental work or vision care from an accident?

That depends on your specific policy. Most MedPay policies cover emergency dental and vision care related to the accident, but some do not. Check your policy documents or call your insurance company to confirm what is covered under your plan.