Who Pays For A Chiropractor After An Accident?

Whether it’s a rear-end collision, an incident that may have caused you to trip and fall somewhere, a negligent rideshare driver, or a workplace safety hazard, accidents happen, and they frequently result in injuries that require continuous medical care. Injuries affecting the bones, joints, and muscles are among the common and debilitating types of injuries sustained in accidents. One way to manage the pain and discomfort brought on by these injuries is chiropractic care.

Chiropractic therapy is a form of alternative medicine focused on diagnosing and treating muscle and joint problems and injuries, particularly those related to the spine. Many people choose chiropractic care as part of a broader treatment plan, as it can be effective in alleviating pain and improving mobility. This is especially true for individuals recovering from accidents, who may experience significant discomfort and stiffness due to their injuries.

However, one common concern for accident victims is how to pay for these services. Will health insurance cover it, or do you have to pay out of pocket? What happens when the accident that injured you wasn’t your fault? Is it possible to hold the negligent party liable for paying for your chiropractic treatment?

If someone else’s negligence caused the accident, you may be able to seek compensation from the liable party for your medical expenses, including chiropractic care. However, in certain situations, you may need to explore other options to cover the costs.

Who Will Pay For My Chiropractic Treatment After An Accident?

The cost of chiropractic adjustments following an accident will likely be the responsibility of the liable party’s insurance provider. Sometimes, the patient may have to cover the expenses through their insurance or pay out-of-pocket.

Without valid documentation, you might find it challenging to persuade the insurance company that you require chiropractic treatment. You will need clear and convincing evidence to support your claim. This means gathering comprehensive medical documentation from your chiropractor, along with any other healthcare providers involved in your care. This documentation should include detailed treatment plans, progress reports, and information about how chiropractic care is addressing your pain, mobility issues, and overall recovery.

Testimony from your doctor of chiropractic can help establish the effectiveness of their holistic therapy in treating your specific condition. The more information you can provide to show why it’s necessary for your health, the better.

Experienced injury lawyers can help you present a well-documented and substantiated case. They can gather the necessary evidence and use it to communicate the full extent of your injuries and required care.

Payment Options For Chiropractic Care After An Accident

When you sustain injuries in an accident caused by another person, such as a car accident caused by a drunk driver, you have a few ways of seeking compensation for your medical bills, including chiropractor fees. These include:

Settlement Through Liability Insurance

Accidents are often the result of someone’s negligence. You might get struck by a distracted driver or suffer a slip and fall in a restaurant due to a spilled drink that was left unattended. Perhaps you got injured in a workplace accident after your employer failed to maintain a safe workplace.

If the other party’s carelessness was the reason for your accident, you are legally entitled to pursue damages. You can pursue the costs of chiropractic care as part of your overall compensation. This can be done via an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit. In this scenario, it can be helpful to be legally represented by skilled injury lawyers who can assist you in seeking the compensation you may deserve under state law.

Medical Payments Coverage

Medical Payments Coverage (MedPay) is an optional add-on to your auto insurance. MedPay provides coverage for medical bills (including those of your passengers) regardless of who is at fault. However, it does not cover other damages.

MedPay is available for a higher premium and typically ranges from $1,000 to $10,000. There are no deductibles, and even if you caused the accident, the coverage still applies. Lastly, MedPay may pay for additional treatments not covered by conventional health insurance, like chiropractic care.

Health Insurance

When you are injured in an accident, your health insurance can cover your medical bills. The liable party’s insurance coverage may not be enough to cover your remaining medical expenses. This is where government and private health insurance come in. However, through subrogation, your insurer can seek reimbursement for its payments. Subrogation is the legal process that allows insurers to recover costs from the party responsible for the loss. They have the right to collect it from any settlement or award you obtained from the at-fault party’s insurer.

Since personal injury claims take time, your insurance provider will often pay for your damages while you pursue compensation. With subrogation, they can eventually be reimbursed by the responsible party. As such, check your health insurance policy carefully. Lastly, to learn whether it’s possible to reduce how much of a potential settlement is used up for reimbursement, you could ask injury lawyers to explain your rights to the damages you’re seeking.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) Coverage

Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage allows you to pursue compensation from your provider. You can seek compensatory damages up to your policy limit following a motor vehicle accident caused by another person. This could include chiropractic adjustments not covered by standard health insurance plans.

UM coverage can pay for your medical bills and other damages if the at-fault driver has no insurance or if you’re injured in a hit-and-run accident and the driver is nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, UIM can provide secondary insurance if the liable driver has insufficient insurance.

While drivers are not obligated to acquire it, California insurers are required to offer the coverage. The injury attorneys at Arash Law may consider this coverage as an alternative option for seeking compensation after an accident. It’s also worth noting that subrogation applies not only to MedPay and health insurance but also to UM/UIM. If you recently incurred injuries or property damage in a road crash caused by an uninsured, underinsured, or hit-and-run driver, our car accident lawyers can help you explore whether you could seek compensation from these optional coverages.

Medical Lien

While you wait for the outcome of your personal injury claim, you may be able to get chiropractic care through a medical lien. A lien allows you to receive medical treatment without upfront costs, which is especially helpful if you don’t have health insurance or can’t afford hospital bills. At the same time, it gives medical providers the right to get paid from your future settlement or award if your case settles in this manner. Not all medical providers will work with this legal agreement.

You must remember, though, that insurance adjusters often don’t consider chiropractic care necessary. Even when you have a valid claim warranting a larger amount, the necessity of this treatment may be disputed, as it is not typically covered by health insurance. Dealing with large insurance companies to resolve such issues can be daunting, but you can hire personal injury lawyers to assist you. They are skilled at negotiating with insurance companies and can work to advocate for your needs and interests.

Out-Of-Pocket Payment

Ultimately, patients may have to pay out of pocket for chiropractic treatment if all other coverage options have been used up or are not available. If you lack insurance or cannot afford treatment, healthcare professionals can work with you to arrange a payment plan.

Proving that chiropractic care was medically necessary for your treatment and recovery is a must if you wish to pursue compensation for related expenses. Your injury lawyer can present relevant supporting evidence to demonstrate to insurers that chiropractic treatment is essential to your overall medical care. One of the main goals of these lawyers is to seek compensation for your injuries. If the insurance company cannot reach a settlement through negotiations, they are prepared to go to court if it’s a viable option for your case.

How To Prove The Need For A Chiropractic Treatment

You cannot just start pursuing compensation for your chiropractic adjustments from the insurance company. The responsibility is yours to first provide definitive proof of its medical necessity. Injury lawyers can help you achieve this critical part of the legal process, but you need to do your part by doing the following:

Seek Medical Treatment

Whether you got injured in an Uber accident or slipped and fell at Walmart, you must seek medical attention as soon as possible. Aside from receiving prompt medical care for your possible injuries, it is also the most important step in building a substantiated personal injury claim.

Remember, you may have injuries that need to be treated right away but aren’t immediately apparent. After an accident, you might not be feeling any pain or discomfort. The shock and adrenaline rush can mask symptoms of underlying damage. Soft tissue injury and whiplash are two examples of injuries that may only show symptoms days or weeks after an accident. Seeing a doctor as soon as possible serves two advantages in your case:

• It helps diagnose injuries that do not show any symptoms. Identifying these injuries right away helps prevent them from becoming more serious and ensures prompt treatment.
• It helps establish that your injury was the direct result of the accident. This causal link must be documented and presented to insurance companies. Postponing medical care weakens the link. If you decide to visit a doctor weeks or months after the accident, the insurer can argue that your injuries are not related to the accident.

The insurance provider may have grounds to deny your claim if you fail to seek prompt medical attention. They may question how legitimate your case is by arguing that chiropractic treatment is not medically necessary since you put off getting it for too long. Ultimately, you may only be able to pursue insufficient compensation or none at all.

Preserve Medical Records

You can prove the need for chiropractic adjustments through the medical records given to you by the healthcare provider. The jury and insurance company will use these documents to assess the validity of your claim. Dates and appointments with the chiropractor, symptom charts, medical invoices, and any other paperwork outlining your symptoms or the severity of your injury should all be well-documented.

Additionally, ask your chiropractor to write a letter explaining how long you are expected to recover. This is helpful, especially if the insurance company claims you had more chiropractic appointments than necessary. You can also request a chiropractic treatment referral from your doctor if you still don’t have one. Their referral can further support your personal injury claim.

What Chiropractors Can Do After An Accident

There are several advantages to seeing a chiropractor following an injury. A chiropractor can identify any hidden musculoskeletal injuries, such as damage to ligaments, tendons, and tissue injuries, by performing a thorough physical examination. Postponing such an assessment may result in persistent, chronic pain that is far more difficult to manage.

A chiropractor can help you regain mobility and relieve your discomfort. They do so by realigning torn muscles or joints that have moved from their natural position. To increase the range of motion and reduce pain, chiropractors administer a regulated force to each spinal joint.

Some of the most popular chiropractic methods of lowering inflammation, releasing pressure, and easing pain and discomfort include:

• Spinal Manipulation — With this technique, a chiropractor applies a controlled push to a spinal joint using their hands or a device.
• Cervical Manipulation — By making precise adjustments, this technique improves mobility and function while offering non-invasive relief for conditions stemming from the neck.
• Traction Therapy — A type of spinal decompression therapy, traction therapy relieves pressure on the spine and helps reduce pain from sprains, spasms, and joints.
• Physical Therapy — Chiropractors can use physical therapy treatments as necessary and are qualified to recommend muscle-strengthening exercises. This is why many medical professionals consider physical therapy as a “subset” of chiropractic care.
• Massage — In addition to manipulating the spine to treat back pain and other conditions, chiropractors also use deep-tissue massage therapy to reduce pain and promote relaxation.

Benefits Of Chiropractic Treatment For Accident Injuries

Chiropractic care can help people recover from various injuries, particularly musculoskeletal injuries. These include headaches, neck and back pain, whiplash, herniated discs, and muscle stiffness and soreness. Accident victims can benefit from chiropractic care in a number of ways:

• Non-Invasive Therapy — Surgery or prescription drugs may have unfavorable side effects and require more recovery time. Chiropractic therapy offers a non-invasive alternative to these conventional treatments. By improving your body’s nerve function, chiropractic care addresses the underlying source of pain without the need for invasive medical techniques.
• Improved Mobility & Range of Motion — By addressing misalignments and muscle strains, chiropractic therapy can help increase the range of motion and restore correct joint function.
• Relief From Headaches — Whiplash or neck strain from accidents can cause tension headaches or migraines. Chiropractic treatments can help reduce these symptoms.
• Decreased Inflammation — Chiropractic adjustments can aid in lowering inflammation when it comes to soft tissue injuries, accelerating the healing process, and alleviating discomfort.
• Prevention of Scar Tissue — Chiropractors’ soft tissue treatments can aid in preventing the development of excessive scar tissue, which could cause chronic pain and stiffness.
• Personalized Treatment Plan — Since each patient’s injuries are unique, chiropractors create customized treatment programs that offer focused care.
• Long-Term Benefits — Chiropractic care also focuses on long-term health and preventing future problems associated with injuries from car accidents or similar events.
• Improved General Well-Being — Through pain management and healing, chiropractic care can enhance an accident victim’s overall physical and emotional health. Besides relieving pain, chiropractic adjustments can accelerate the healing process by inducing the body’s natural healing response.

Dealing With Insurance Companies When Seeking Compensation For A Chiropractor

If you get injured in an accident, avoid speaking with the other party’s insurance provider. You might accidentally make recorded statements that harm your claim and affect your ability to pursue compensation for chiropractic fees.

You may also be offered a settlement before you have fully recovered. At this point in time, you may not yet know the true value of your claim. Accepting an early settlement will release the other party from their legal obligation of paying your current and future medical bills and other damages, which is why it’s important to review it first.

The good thing is you are not required to talk to them. You can hire a personal injury attorney to represent and guide you through these discussions. Your injury lawyer can handle all case-related communications, assess the extent of your injuries, review early offers, and negotiate with the insurer on your behalf if you decide to counter them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Should I Wait Before Going To A Chiropractor?

If you sustained injuries in an accident, consult a doctor right away. Seeing a chiropractor after a collision may also be a good idea, even if you are not in pain. Even after a seemingly minor accident like a fender-bender, victims may unknowingly sustain neck and back injuries that could later develop symptoms.

You must submit your claim within two years of the date of the accident to seek damages under California’s statute of limitations. The sooner you start working on your claim, the more time you’ll have to prepare your case.

Does Insurance Or A Lawsuit Award Cover Chiropractic Care?

While views on chiropractic care vary, insurance companies may not value the therapy as highly as they do other medical treatments traditionally covered by healthcare policies. As such, you may worry about your chiropractor’s payouts after an accident.

Following an accident, your insurance company or a settlement could cover your chiropractic care. However, you first need to prove the necessity of this treatment for your physical recovery. To pursue compensation for your losses, ask your doctor to recommend a chiropractor first. After the accident, see a chiropractor and begin your treatments right away.

Ensure your chiropractor and doctor have thorough records of all your tests, charts, reports, updates, and recommendations. Keep a journal detailing your physical limitations, injuries, pain levels, and therapies. Don’t miss any treatments, and adhere strictly to your treatment plan.

How Can I Include Compensation For Chiropractic Care In My Accident Settlement?

First, thoroughly describe all your injuries in writing. By doing this, you’ll be able to recall where the pain was and how you felt. Next, and most importantly, get medical attention right away. A doctor can determine hidden injuries that may not manifest until later, even if you feel fine. Important records about your injuries are required to receive chiropractic care.

Lastly, hire an injury lawyer who can use the details of your case to build a well-supported claim. They can use all your medical records and doctor’s notes to assist you in seeking compensation for chiropractic care.

Are There Certain Types Of Injuries Where Chiropractic Care Is More Likely To Be Covered In An Accident Settlement?

Chiropractic therapy is more likely to be factored into a claim if it is required to treat injuries. Chiropractic care may be medically necessary for injuries like whiplash, back strains, and spinal misalignments. If you sustain any of these injuries, you may be able to pursue compensation for chiropractic treatments.

Why Might Insurance Companies Dismiss My Claim For Chiropractic Care Compensation?

Insurance adjusters are more likely to dispute your bills for chiropractic treatment than doctor appointments because it is a form of alternative medicine. As such, you will need to demonstrate that you required a specific number of sessions to recover or more explicitly link your injuries to the accident, especially if you’ve been to a chiropractor beforehand.

Ultimately, it will help to show evidence that you are not trying to charge the insurance company for unnecessary operations. This is one reason to hire injury lawyers who can represent your interests and help you pursue compensation.

Can I Pursue Compensation For Chiropractic Care If I Am Partially At Fault For The Accident?

California is a pure comparative negligence state, which impacts the amount of damages you can seek in an accident settlement. Under pure comparative negligence, every party involved in an accident, including injured victims, can be assigned a share of responsibility in causing it.

If you’re found to be partially to blame for your accident and your resulting injuries, the percentage of fault you share will be deducted from your potential settlement or award. For instance, you will only get 80% of your damages if the court finds you to be 20% at fault.

Hiring personal injury accident attorneys to negotiate on your behalf may help protect you against being assigned a larger share of blame than necessary. They can negotiate a reduced cost for your treatment or agree with the chiropractor to have their outstanding fees paid by your accident settlement if your case resolves with compensation.

When Should You Call A Personal Injury Lawyer?

Consider contacting a personal injury lawyer early on after an accident. Injury attorneys can guide you through the insurance claims process, explain your rights, and help you seek compensation for your injuries. They can also assist you in dealing with insurance providers and medical liens. You can speak with our accident attorneys for a free initial consultation to discuss your options, regardless of how serious your injuries are.

How Can Accident Lawyers Help After An Accident?

Our dedicated accident lawyers can help you pay your chiropractor by doing the following:

• Deal With Insurance Companies — Your injury lawyer can handle all communication with insurance companies and file the essential documents properly. More importantly, they can negotiate on your behalf to pursue damages.
• Collect Evidence — Your personal injury lawyer can assist you in obtaining accident reports, medical records, statements from witnesses, and expert testimonies to help prove chiropractic care is necessary for your recovery.
• Prove Liability — The insurance company may dispute its client’s liability for the accident. Your lawyer can substantiate the other party’s potential liability by gathering proof of their negligence.
• Represent You in Court — If the insurance company doesn’t settle through negotiations, your injury attorneys can advocate for your interests, including chiropractic care, before a judge or jury.
• Guide You Through the Legal Process — Your accident lawyer can help you navigate the complex claims process and fulfill deadlines so you can make more informed decisions while seeking compensation for chiropractic care.
• Pursue Fair Compensation — Most importantly, your personal injury lawyer can help you seek compensation that closely reflects the extent of your injuries. They can study your case and help establish the full extent of your damages, including chiropractic care.

Talk To Our Injury Lawyers

Our injury attorneys at Arash Law have experience helping injured clients seek compensation for related expenses, including chiropractor bills, after an accident. Arash Law is prepared to assist if you were hurt in an accident in California. Our injury lawyers have represented numerous personal injury clients, advocating for their rights and interests.

You don’t have to put off getting treatment after being injured by someone else’s carelessness because you’re worried you won’t be able to cover the costs. Our personal injury lawyers can work to assert your rights and assist you in seeking compensation for your losses from the liable party.

Call (888) 488-1391 or complete our “Do I Have A Case?” form here to schedule a free initial consultation.