Personal injury claims should settle or resolve for an amount that compensates you fairly for expenses and damages related to your accident and injuries. Among these recoverable damages are your medical costs.
While your Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) pays for most of your medical costs, you may be responsible for some medical expenses not covered by your OHIP. Your personal injury claim should account for these out-of-pocket expenses. Further, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care may seek to subrogate part of your settlement to recover its costs for your healthcare and treatment.
For more information about paying for your accident damages and recovering compensation, contact an injury lawyer.
Subrogation of OHIP-Covered Health Services
OHIP and any supplemental insurance coverage an individual has pays for their medical care after their accident. But OHIP and private supplemental insurers may request repayment of any covered services from a personal injury settlement or judgment award. This is called subrogation.
Subrogation allows insurers like OHIP to recover the costs of insured health services already provided at the time of the settlement or judgment. OHIP can also recover the costs of any future health care services that an individual might need.
Accounting for All Medical Costs
When a lawyer files a personal injury claim for their clients, they must consider the costs of all health services required to treat the client’s injuries. This means accounting for services already covered by OHIP and other supplemental plans.
Even though an individual is not personally responsible for paying for health services covered by OHIP, the claim should still account for these damages. A lawyer will also seek compensation for any medical expenses an individual may incur that are not covered by OHIP so they can pay those bills upon resolving the case.
Once an individual’s claim settles or resolves by way of judgment, the OHIP and other insurers may receive a portion of the proceeds to recover their costs, and the individual will receive compensation to cover any out-of-pocket medical expenses and other damages like lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.
Contact a Lawyer
Case value varies from person to person. If you are pursuing a personal injury claim after an accident, you should speak with a lawyer about your case and the amount of compensation you may be able to recover.
A lawyer will thoroughly review your case to identify all damages you suffered, as well as the health services and medical costs covered by OHIP and other insurance plans.
