Who Pays For A Chiropractor After An Accident?

 

A car accident is a major interruption to your life. It doesn’t just throw you off on the day of the accident, either. It can be weeks before you know the status of your car, how much insurance will cover, and more.

And that’s just concerning the damage to your vehicle. What about the damage done to you?

When you’re in a car accident, it’s important to seek medical treatment and seeing a chiropractor after a car accident can be an excellent source of recovery for a wide range of car accident injuries.

However, depending on the severity of your injuries, you may find yourself with one all-consuming question: Who pays for a chiropractor after an accident?

There’s good news! If you’ve been injured in a car accident, you have multiple options to avoid paying out of pocket for chiropractic services.

Does Insurance Cover Chiropractors?

Many people are surprised to hear that their car insurance policy provides coverage for chiropractic care following an accident, but it’s true!

Florida law requires that all drivers carry a minimum of $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection (PIP), which is designed to cover a portion of the medical expenses and lost wages caused by a car accident injury—regardless of who is at fault.

If you are diagnosed with an emergency medical condition (EMC), you can use your PIP benefits to pay for your chiropractic care (up to your coverage limit). For medical expenses not covered by PIP, you would need to turn to your health insurance plan or pay out of pocket.

Keep in mind, however, that you must seek medical treatment within 14 days of the accident to use these benefits. (And even then, PIP insurance only pays for 80% of your medical treatment.) How do you pay for your treatment if this window has already passed?

The answer: car accident settlements.

Will My Car Accident Settlement Cover Chiropractors?

If you are working with a personal injury attorney to file a claim against the other driver’s insurance company, you can use your car accident settlement to pay for any treatment plan you want—including chiropractic care!

A car accident settlement can also go toward medical bills from a hospital stay, any pain and suffering you may be experiencing, and even your household bills and expenses.

However, once you accept a car accident settlement, it will not be possible to ask for more later on. This is why you need to work closely with an experienced attorney who can help you receive the full value of your personal injury claim.

The most important things you can do to help your case are to document all your injuries and seek medical attention as soon as possible.

 

Seeking Chiropractic Treatment After a Car Accident

Many people who walk away from a car accident consider themselves lucky to have not suffered any major injuries and turn their attention to fixing or replacing their car.

But you should always seek medical attention after a car accident. However good you may feel, a car accident is still a blunt force trauma that could have lasting effects on your physical health. Even in a slow-moving fender bender, there can still be damage to your joints.

The most common injury that presents following a car accident is whiplash, and it’s not something that presents right away. Whiplash can cause neck pain, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, and more, so it’s crucial to seek treatment.

Other hidden injuries caused by a car accident include soft tissue injuries, stiff and sore muscles, disc injuries, damaged ligaments, and more. However, these injuries may not show up on an initial X-ray taken in the hours right after the accident. This is where a car accident chiropractor comes in.

Seeing a chiropractor quickly after a car accident can detect joint, skeletal, or muscle injuries you may not have felt, and it can also affect how much you receive in a car accident settlement.

Chiropractic care is a non-invasive, drug-free treatment for a variety of musculoskeletal injuries. Even if you don’t feel injured after an accident, it’s important to prevent damage down the road.

Chiropractic treatment is about treating the root of your pain, not just dealing with symptoms. The ultimate goal is preventing lasting damage and providing long-term relief.

 

Don’t Overlook Chiropractic Care After a Car Accident

No matter how gentle the car accident may feel, hidden injuries are no joke. Even a fender bender can cause whiplash or tissue damage which will have major effects on your life down the road.

Seeing a car accident chiropractor is a great way to diagnose any hidden injuries and start treating them before they become more severe. Symptoms of back pain and stiff joints can take several weeks to appear, but getting a diagnosis early can minimize their effect.

At Oviedo Chiropractic, we strive to offer same or next-day appointments so you can receive care as soon as possible. Call us today and get on the road to healing.