What is MedPay Coverage in Nevada?

Are you a Nevada driver? If so, it’s essential to understand the different types of auto insurance coverage available in the state and how your policy can protect you if you suffer injuries in a car accident.

MedPay coverage is an inexpensive yet valuable type of insurance that pays for your medical expenses after a collision. Continue reading to learn more about what MedPay insurance can do for you.

What Is MedPay Coverage?

To register a vehicle in Nevada, vehicle owners must purchase minimum amounts of bodily injury liability insurance. This type of coverage pays for costs associated with injuries to others if you are at fault for an accident. However, liability insurance does not protect you or your passengers.

Medical payments coverage, or MedPay for short, is a type of no-fault insurance that covers the costs of your medical expenses if you are involved in an accident, including pedestrian crashes. MedPay also covers the medical costs of any passengers and residential family members who sustain injuries in vehicle wrecks.

In Nevada, MedPay insurance is optional. You can add this type of coverage to any auto insurance policy through your existing provider.

In fatal motor vehicle collisions, MedPay only reimburses medical and funeral expenses. MedPay coverage does not extend to vehicle repairs, lost wages, or pain and suffering.

Are Insurance Companies Required to Offer MedPay in Nevada?

Yes. Under § 687B.145(3) of the Nevada Revised Statutes, all auto insurance providers in the state must offer at least $1,000 in MedPay coverage to any customer purchasing a new policy for a passenger vehicle. However, insurance companies are not required to offer it each time a customer replaces, reinstates, substitutes, or changes their auto coverage policy terms.

Insurance companies are also required to include a copy of their MedPay coverage offers along with renewal paperwork whenever an existing customer renews a policy. Policyholders are permitted to purchase MedPay coverage at any time by submitting a written request to their insurance providers.

Notably, state law also prohibits subrogation by auto insurance providers regarding MedPay benefits. Subrogation refers to an insurance company’s right to seize all or part of any compensation you receive from an at-fault driver. Insurers often use subrogation to reclaim money they pay for your accident-related costs, which can leave you with little to nothing. However, with MedPay benefits, you have no legal obligation to reimburse your insurance provider even if you obtain compensation from the other driver.

How Much Will MedPay Coverage Cost Me?

The cost of your MedPay insurance coverage will depend on how much you buy. In most cases, $1,000 in MedPay coverage will cost a few dollars each month on top of your regular auto insurance premiums. Many auto insurance providers offer MedPay coverage in larger increments, such as $2,000, $3,000, $5,000, $10,000, or more.

The potential benefits of MedPay insurance significantly outweigh the relatively small cost. The Las Vegas car accident lawyer at THE702FIRM Injury Lawyers, we recommend clients purchase as much insurance as they can comfortably afford. Filing just one MedPay insurance claim can easily make up for the lifetime costs of your coverage.

How Does MedPay Insurance Coverage Work?

MedPay insurance supplements your auto and health insurance policies. The no-fault benefits from your MedPay coverage policy allow you to promptly take care of your medical bills without having to wait for insurance adjusters to investigate the accident and determine who was at fault.

Policyholders are not required to make copays or meet deductibles to receive their benefits. You can even use money from your MedPay benefits to cover the costs of copays or deductibles for other health-related insurance policies.

To claim MedPay benefits after a car accident, you must:

• Obtain medical bills for any care you received for accident-related injuries.
• Submit those bills to your MedPay insurance company. Most providers cover “reasonable and necessary” costs such as hospital stays, ambulance rides, surgeries, physical therapy, and chiropractic services.

Although MedPay benefits only cover costs from crash-related medical and funeral expenses, they are available in many different circumstances, including:

• Any time you are involved in a motor vehicle accident as a driver
• Any time a motorist collides with you as a cyclist or pedestrian
• Any time your residential family members are involved in a car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian traffic accident
• Any time a passenger in your vehicle sustains injuries in a motor vehicle accident

What Are the Benefits of MedPay Coverage?

MedPay insurance can protect you when other types of coverage are delayed or unavailable. Here are some of the top advantages of carrying MedPay in Nevada:

• Benefits are available to you, your passengers, and residential family members regardless of who was at fault, which means you can get paid right away.
• The maximum amount of coverage in your policy is available on a per-person basis, not a per-accident basis. This means if you have $5,000 in MedPay insurance, each person covered under your policy can claim up to $5,000 in benefits rather than having only $5,000 available for all victims.
• MedPay insurance is cheap, and you can use it to cover deductibles and copays for other types of policies.
• You are not obligated to reimburse your MedPay insurance provider for any payments, even if you recover compensation from your private health insurance provider, a federal health insurance program, or a third-party insurance provider.
• Because MedPay benefits are not fault-based, your premiums will not change after an accident. Your coverage is also available no matter where or how an accident occurs.

Contact a Las Vegas Car Accident Attorney Today

MedPay insurance coverage could help cover your medical expenses after an accident, but only up to the limits of your policy. People who are seriously injured in collisions may need to consider other legal options to receive compensation from the at-fault party(s).

At THE702FIRM Injury Attorneys, our team will fight to maximize your recovery while you focus on healing and moving forward. Call or contact a Las Vegas car accident lawyer today for a free initial consultation.