HOSPITAL BILLS: Going Broke!

I'm Rahlita Thornton from the Thornton Esquire Law Group, PLLC. Today, I want to talk to you about having minimum liability coverage and more.

In the state of Texas, you only have to have $30,000 as a minimum requirement. And a lot of people don't even have liability coverage at all. So you're out there riding with your coverage, and it's not enough.

Let me explain what I mean by minimum coverage. In the state of Texas, you have a $30,000-$60,000 policy. That means that if you hit someone, one person, then you're responsible to them for their damages up to $30,000. You may think $30,000 is a lot of money, but it really isn't.

A recent client of mine was in the hospital with a partially collapsed lung. It was a really bad accident. She didn't have her own insurance or something happened to it and it lapsed. Anyway, the person who caused the accident was going to be responsible for a $42,000 hospital bill from a one night stay.

So if the person that hit her only had $30,000 coverage, that means that she's already out of luck. She's going to have probably lifelong injuries, and she's not going to be compensated. She's has to go on about her way and suffer pain for the rest of her life because all this person had was $30,000.

So we're still in that case, and we're trying to get more for her. But I just wanted to share an example of why it's important to have more than the minimum liability coverage in the state of Texas. Just because the government says that's all you have to have doesn't mean that's all you get to have. So if you're able to get more, get more.

The second reason why it's important is because if you're able to get more liability coverage, like I said, up to $100,000, maybe more, then that would apply to you. That means that if someone were to hit you, and they didn't have insurance at all, then your insurance company will be responsible.

Your car insurance will be responsible for $100,000 in damages. So it's great to have liability coverage that goes beyond $30,000, but it's an even greater benefit to you.

So I would impress upon you to check with your agents, get price quotes for the price difference and see what it is. You may be surprised.

You're probably thinking about $100,000 versus $30,000. You think it's going to cost three times as much. But it's not going to cost three times as much. So it may be something that you can afford. It may not even be that much. Insurance companies don't like to write high policies because that means that they have to pay.

So go check your coverage. Figure out if you can do better, because, like I said, these hospital bills are not cheap. Certainly for a more serious injury, but even for injuries that are not that serious. I've seen $25,000, $30,000 bills for a one-time visit at the hospital.

If you have any questions or concerns about that, about checking with the insurance agent, or about what you should ask, let me know. I'd be happy to help.