Updated
Medical Payments Coverage, known as Nevada Med Pay for short, is an optional form of auto insurance in Nevada. It covers reasonable and necessary medical bills and funeral expenses, up to policy limits, resulting from a motor vehicle accident that injures:
- the policyholder,
- the policyholder’s family, or
- passengers in the policyholder’s driver’s vehicle.
Med Pay insurance applies regardless of whether the insured or another driver was at fault. It even applies when the insured or the insured’s family are struck by a motor vehicle as they walk down the street.
To help you better understand Nevada Med Pay insurance, our Las Vegas personal injury lawyers discuss, below:
- 1. When does Med Pay insurance apply in Nevada?
- 2. What expenses does Med Pay insurance cover?
- 3. What expenses are not covered by Med Pay?
- 4. Is Med Pay insurance worth the cost?
- 5. Does my insurer have to offer Med Pay in Nevada?
1. When does Med Pay insurance apply in Nevada?
Med Pay insurance coverage applies anytime you or a residential family member is injured or killed in a motor vehicle accident, regardless of whether you were at fault.
When you are driving, it also covers passengers in your vehicle.
But it also covers you when you are a passenger in a car that someone else is driving, or if you are struck by a motor vehicle when you are a pedestrian.
Examples of when Med Pay might apply include (but are not limited to):
- You sustain a brain injury and other bodily injury in a motorcycle accident while on your way back from the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area;
- A passenger in your car gets a spinal injury when a motorist rear-ends you in traffic on the I-215;
- Your spouse is hit by a bus while crossing the Las Vegas Strip;
- Your daughter is involved in a bicycle accident on her way home from school;
- A car accident while another parent is driving your son home from soccer practice, and it results in your son’s wrongful death;
- You are hurt in an accident with a truck when the truck runs a red light and hits your vehicle.1
2. What expenses does Med Pay insurance cover?
Med Pay covers all reasonable and necessary medical bills and/or funeral expenses arising from auto accidents, up to the policy limits.
Such expenses can include (but are not limited to):
- Doctor’s bills;
- Chiropractor bills;
- Physical or occupational therapy;
- X-rays and MRIs;
- Ambulance and EMT costs;
- Hospital stays;
- Short- or long-term care (such as home health aides);
- Prosthetics;
- Dental expenses resulting from broken teeth; and
- Funeral expenses.
Note that Med Pay kicks in after you receive your medical bills.
3. What expenses are not covered by Med Pay?
Nevada medical payments liability coverage will not pay for:
- Car repair bills or other property damage;
- Coverage in excess of your policy limits;
- Medical treatment expenses incurred while you are riding in a trailer or other equipment attached to a vehicle; or
- Expenses relating to pre-existing conditions (except to the extent they are made worse by an accident).
Med Pay is similar to PIP (personal injury protection).
4. Is Med Pay insurance worth the cost?
Med Pay coverage is usually well worth the cost. In addition to covering you in situations other car insurance won’t (such as when you are a pedestrian in a pedestrian accident or at fault for the accident), Med Pay has several other advantages:
- Every person injured can receive up to the policy limit – the limit is not divided between the victims;
- No deductibles or co-pays like most liability insurance has;
- No restriction on the type of provider you can visit like most health insurance coverage has;
- No restriction on where the accident takes place;
- Premiums will not go up after an accident;
- Coverage will not be dropped after an accident;
- Coverage for your family; and
- No obligation to reimburse any other insurer for payments previously made for medical expenses under any other plan of insurance (including, without limitation, expenses paid by private health insurance or Medicare).
Also, Med Pay is relatively cheap – usually a few dollars every month.
5. Does my insurer have to offer Med Pay in Nevada?
Yes. Nevada law under NRS 687B.145(3) requires all insurance companies offering motor vehicle insurance policies to also offer optional Med Pay insurance with coverage of at least $1,000.2 However, most vehicle insurers offer Med Pay with higher limits, sometimes as high as $100,000.
Nevada law precludes subrogation of Med Pay coverage. In other words, you do not have to reimburse your insurance company for Med Pay funds even if the at-fault driver’s insurance pays you.
Injured in an accident in Las Vegas, NV? Call us for help…
If you or a family member was injured in an accident involving a car, truck, motorcycle, bus or commercial vehicle in Las Vegas or elsewhere in the state of Nevada, we invite you to contact us for a free consultation about your injury case.
Our experienced Las Vegas personal injury attorneys may be able to get you compensation for your medical bills and other damages – often without even filing a personal injury claim lawsuit.
To schedule your free consultation on Med-Pay or related issues, call our law firm or fill out the form on this page.
Legal references:
- See, e.g., United Servs. Auto Ass’n v. Schlang, (1995) 111 Nev. 486, 894 P.2d 967; see, e.g., Ellison v. California State Auto. Ass’n, (1990) 106 Nev. 601, 797 P.2d 975.
- NRS 687B.145 (3).