The Surprising Cost of Delaying Medical Treatment After a Car Accident
Delaying Medical Treatment Won’t Save You Money
Healthcare is expensive.
Even with insurance, deductibles can be so high that they put a massive ding in your finances.
After a car accident, injuries may appear less severe than they actually are. And when the idea of going to the hospital, and the daunting bills that come with that visit, looms over you, some victims skip medical treatment after a car accident.
This can end up costing you in the long run.
Delaying Medical Treatment After a Car Accident May Mess up Your Case
Immediately before, during, and just after the wreck, your body releases adrenaline. This hormone heightens your awareness and can cause you to ignore the pain that you may be experiencing. This “rush” lasts for an hour or more after the wreck; during this time you might not notice that you’ve been seriously injured.
Later, as the adrenaline leaves your system, you start to notice that you don’t feel quite right. But you might think that since you didn’t feel pain at the time, it’s really not a big deal. However, as the pain gets worse, you eventually head to the hospital to get checked out.
The longer you delay that medical treatment, the stronger the argument is that you were hurt after the accident. And the treatment that you received was for an injury not suffered in the car accident.
Think about everything that can happen in a week or two. Then, consider that healthcare is expensive. A dishonest person might blame a different injury on the accident, so they don’t have to pay the hospital bill.
If you delay medical treatment after a car accident, the settlement offer might not be as much as you deserve; in some cases that means many thousands of dollars less.
Delaying Medical Treatment After a Car Accident May Mess up Your Body
Not all costs are financial costs.
If you get a paper cut on your finger, your first reaction should be to wash the cut, apply antibiotic ointment, and bandage it. Doing so will help you heal within a few days, and there should be relatively few problems with your healing.
What would happen if you didn’t do anything about the cut? Just shook it off and didn’t worry. Delaying that treatment could cause an infection that would lead to many more problems and could result in losing the finger (or worse).
Delaying medical treatment after a car accident may result in a surprising cost not just to your finances, but also to your overall health and healing.
In the absence of sophisticated medical equipment, internal injuries are hard to detect right away.
When you “feel fine” and delay treatment, those injuries can worsen until you seek treatment. Then, when the doctors can correct the issue, they have a harder time, and you have a longer road to recovery.
After the case settles in your favor and you are financially compensated, the cost will still be there as the time it takes for your health to return may be significantly extended.
Gonzalez & Jones Will Help You Receive the Compensation You Deserve
Because that adrenaline will be pumping and you’ll have difficulty focusing, download and print our accident checklist. The only thing you must remember is that it’s waiting in your glove box in case something terrible happens.
Even if you “feel fine,” you get checked out by a doctor to ensure there aren’t any hidden injuries.
While you’re in the waiting room at the hospital, contact Gonzalez & Jones to handle the stressful bits of the car accident claim. We’ll work with you and the insurance companies to ensure that you receive compensation covering all of your injuries and that nothing is left to chance.
Don’t delay your medical treatment after a car accident, and don’t delay contacting us to make sure you can focus on healing from your injuries. Our number is 408-848-2208, or you can schedule a free case review through our contact page.