A few weeks ago a family friend was involved in an auto accident. The other driver was at fault. She suffered some broken bones and was taken to the hospital, where she gave them her BC/BS health insurance card. She will require a couple of surgeries, and has already had one surgery. BC/BS initially paid some money for claims, but has now demanded the money back from the hospital and other providers, saying that her car insurance should cover the health costs. Other driver doesn't have anything, so sueing him is useless. She now owes thousands of dollars for healthcare, and evidently will owe thousands more if her auto insurance policy doesn't pay up. Friends of mine who work in the healthcare and insurance business say this a result of cost-shifting that occurred with Obamacare, and is becoming increasingly more common. She has been referred to a lawyer, which is going to cost even more money.
When she first told me about the situation I didn't want to believe it, but apparently if you are in a car accident you need to show the healthcare providers your auto insurance card and hope you have enough coverage to pay the bills.
Anybody ever heard of this?
