Please note that this is an informational blog. I accept no professional responsibility for this blog, and it is not intended to be a treatise on this subject matter. A person with an injury claim should consult my firm or another attorney about their personal injury matter. 

As a practicing lawyer now for nearly a quarter century primarily in personal injury law, I have heard a lot of things surrounding the area of law that I practice that can be true, partially true, or false. 

One comment or suggestion that I have heard from some health care providers, clients, and others over the years is that health insurance will not cover auto accident matters. This statement is something that falls into the untrue or at least partially untrue category. 

There is not a private health insurance policy of which I am aware, at least in the State of Washington, which includes a blanket policy that an injured person will not contractually receive health insurance coverage for something that involves an auto accident injury. The insured may still need to address co-pays, deductibles, and other potential out of pocket expenses, but such a person should still generally be able to receive health care treatment after an auto accident matter through their health insurance plan subject to some other conditions of the respective health insurance policy. 

An aspect of this discussion that can lead to confusion is that in some situations one injured in an auto accident may need to go through another insurance policy first before the person's health insurance policy will potentially pay for their insured's health care bills. 

There are certain policies such as Personal Injury Protection (PIP) polices and Medical Payment (also known as Med-Pay) policies that can be the primary source of health care payments for a person after an auto accident. There is also workers compensation and Medicare based policies that can become the primary source of insurance payments for one injured in an auto accident. 

However, not everyone is a recipient of a PIP, Med-Pay policy, workers compensation, or Medicare policy, and a standard health insurance plan will thus still be the primary (and only) source of insurance coverage for many auto accident victims. There are further situations when a person's PIP policy or Med-Pay policy is exhausted (the limits are paid) or there is a coverage problem whereas health insurance will need to step in and make payments to providers on behalf of the injured person.

There are other details that can come up in concern to insurance coverage, and additional issues such as subrogation with a car accident injury case, but the overall point of this blog is that it is important for one to not fall into the mistaken belief that your health insurance policy lacks coverage for auto accident-related treatment. It is important to be aware of your different sources of potential insurance after an auto accident and things can generally then fall into place with the proper communications and information. My firm is available to assist citizens in concern to various insurance issues that can emerge after an auto accident incident.