MEDICAL AND HEALTH CARE EXPENSES
Claims For Medical Expense Awards
An award for damages in a personal injury action may include all provable medical, hospital, and related expenses. The award may cover those expenses incurred from the date of the accident to the date of the trial. In addition, future medical expenses are recoverable. To be included in an award, the expenses must be reasonably and necessarily incurred in the treatment of the injuries caused by the accident.
Recoverable items of damage include charges by medical doctors, osteopaths, podiatrists, chiropractors, psychologists, therapists, and consultants whose services are requested by treating doctors. In addition, one may recover charges for hospitalization, nursing care, diagnostic tests, medications, therapy, medical appliances, domestic help, and transportation to and from health care providers.
Determining Medical Expense Claims
Unlike damages for pain and suffering, there really is a mathematical formula that can be used to determine an appropriate award for medical expenses. Past expenses for each medical service can simply be added together and totaled. Future expenses are a little trickier in as much as they have not yet happened. Still, if a doctor testifies that a certain number or type of treatment will be necessary in the future at a certain cost, these damages are recoverable.
Disputing Insurance Claims
This is not to suggest that medical expenses are indisputable and that the insurance companies just roll over and pay for all medical expenses. They will argue over the reasonableness of the bill, the necessity of the treatment, and whether it is related to injuries caused by the accident. Additionally, for those cases that are put into suit, the insurance company defendant has the option of hiring a doctor to do a defense medical examination. That doctor will examine treatment records, examine the injury victim (plaintiff), and offer testimony as favorable to the insurance company as is possible. He may testify that he cannot find anything wrong with the plaintiff. He may say that the plaintiff’s problems were not caused by the accident at issue. He may give an opinion that while there was some injury, the plaintiff should have recovered from those injuries and any ongoing problems are either imagined or caused by something other than the accident.
The following articles about personal injury law may also be of interest to you:
You & Your Personal Injury Claim
Answering Questions About Accident-related Injuries
At The Accident Scene, What Should I Do?
But My Insurance Adjuster Says I Don't Need A Lawyer
How Much Is My Injury Claim Worth?
Injuries To Children
Product Liability Claims
Herrick & Hart Personal Injury Attorneys, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Please contact us for help with your legal needs or concerns.
The attorneys at Herrick & Hart provide expert advice to people who have suffered a loss or been injured. If you or someone whom you care about has been injured, please call (715-832-3491), e-mail (mike@eauclairelaw.com) to arrange a free initial consultation with the injury lawyers at Herrick & Hart, or complete the online personal injury case assessment form to have your case reviewed by the personal injury attorneys at Herrick & Hart.
The team of personal injury lawyers at Herrick & Hart represent people throughout northwest Wisconsin. They litigate against insurance companies based in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and across the nation, and most frequently help clients who were injured in or are residents of Eau Claire county (Eau Claire, Altoona, Augusta, Fairchild, Fall Creak, & Seymour), Chippewa county (Chippewa Falls, Cadott, Cornell, New Auburn, & Stanley), Taylor county (Medford, Gilman, & Stetsonville), Rusk county (Ladysmith, Hawkins, & Weyerhauser), Barron county (Barron, Rice Lake, & Cameron), Dunn county (Boyceville, Menomonie, Colfax, & Downing), Clark county (Abbotsford, Colby, Neilsville, & Thorp), Marathon County (Wausau, Abbotsford, Colby, Brokaw, Evergreen, Marshfield, Mosinee, Rothschild, Schofield, Spencer, Unity & Weston), Portage county (Stevens Point, Amherst, Plover, Rosholt, & Whiting), Wood county (Wisconsin Rapids, Port Edwards, Nekoosa, & Marshfield), Jackson county (Black River Falls, Taylor, Merrillan, and Alma Center), La Crosse county (La Crosse, Brice Prairie, Onalaska, Holmen, & West Salem), Monroe county (Sparta), Douglas county (Superior), Sawyer county (Hayward), Ashland county (Ashland, Odanah), Bayfield county (Bayfield, Mason, & Washburn), Juneau county (Elroy, Mauston, Necedah, Union Center), and St Croix county (Baldwin, Hudson, New Richmond, North Hudson, River Falls, Spring Valley & Wilson), Pierce county (Bay City, Ellsworth, River Falls, Spring Valley).
