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Although this blog is typically concerned with personal injury cases and, in turn, car accident cases I thought it might be of value to discuss what has surely been the biggest topic raging in the news for the past year,  specifically, health care insurance reform.  One of the most important subjects in this debate was how to insure the millions of Americans who do not have health insurance.  This topic has been followed closely by all personal injury attorneys here in San Diego because the inability to get prompt medical care can cause serious problems for someone's injury case, to say nothing of the fact that it can be harmful to your health and recovery from the effects of your injury and/or car accident.  (Please forgive my repeated references to car accident injury cases as opposed to simply speaking about personal injury cases in general.  The fact is that the vast majority of all San Diego personal injury cases arise out of San Diego car accidents, notwithstanding the fact that there are a multitude of ways someone can suffer a personal injury, i.e. slip and fall, defective product, dog bite, etc...)

It is vitally important that you obtain prompt medical care as soon as possible after your personal injury occurs, both for the obvious medical reasons as well as to legally establish and prove up the merits of your personal injury accident case.  Quite simply, if you don't receive prompt medical treatment, car accident insurance companies and personal injury defense attorneys will seize upon this as evidence that you weren't really injured, since people who are "really" injured seek prompt medical care, regardless of any concerns they may have about their ability to pay for it.  Obviously, nothing here is meant to suggest that anyone gets medical care that they do not need merely to bolster their accidental injury case, as medical treatment in an accident and injury case will always be evaluated for reasonableness and necessity. 

Someone injured in a car accident or other manner giving rise to a personal injury claim is also under a legal duty to "mitigate their damages."  Specifically, this means that the personal injury accident victim must take steps to attempt to get better.  Typically, this means seeking medical attention.  Put another way, if you are hurt in an accident and don't seek any medical care, do not expect to be fully compensated for 6 months of pain and suffering.  In such a scenario the injury victim chose to suffer through the pain instead of attempting to speed their recovery by getting treated by the appropriate health care professionals. 

If you do not have health insurance coverage and need medical care due to your  injury or car accident, there are still a number of ways you can obtain prompt medical attention.  In many cases, if you contact and retain an injury lawyer they can make arrangements with doctors to provide your care on a "lien" basis...this typically means that the doctor who is treating your accidental injury will agree to wait until you receive settlement funds before getting paid.  An experienced San Diego personal injury attorney can also usually find other ways to get you treated for your injuries, whether through government programs, emergency or charitable relief, or even arranging for you to borrow money from third party lending companies against your later settlement proceeds.

It remains to be seen how the new health care bill recently enacted will impact 3rd party personal injury accident cases.

As always, the specifics of how to deal with any of the issues surrounding your individual injury case can best be answered by an experienced personal injury lawyer in San Diego who has expertise in how these issues are best handled in the same locale.