Seeking a Solution: How Medical Funding Alleviates the Rising Cost of Medical Care [Part 2]

This is Part Two of a two-part series on medical funding and the current state of healthcare.

It’s not news that healthcare is becoming more and more expensive. The topic of healthcare is ruling the news headlines, coursing through our national political conversations, and affecting insured and uninsured people across the country. In Part One of this two-part series we explored the harsh reality of the rising cost of care. But what options do people have when it comes to covering the cost of expensive medical care when they’ve been personally injured and they’re staking out a lawsuit?

Medical Funding & Personal Injury Lawsuits

If someone has been injured through no fault of their own – for instance, in a traffic accident or an injury that happened while at work – and they’ve hired a lawyer to bring their case to court, waiting on the court’s resolution regarding their personal injury settlement can take months or even years. And the payout of their personal injury settlement can take even longer.

During this valuable time, surgeries for the injuries that have been sustained can’t wait. Receiving necessary medical care can’t wait. And, if this person is unable to work due to their injuries, daily living expenses can start to add up. It’s not easy to get better when financial stress and money owed starts to accumulate.

Whether someone is medically uninsured or subject to a health insurance deductible they’re unable to afford, applying for third-party and non-recourse medical funding offers personal injury plaintiffs an option to pay for these near-term financial obligations.

Medical funding covers the immediate costs, including living expenses, so the individual can focus on recovery and on their lawsuit.

Why Medical Funding Matters for Personal Injury Plaintiffs

Medical doctors are in the business of providing quality medical care. They are not in business to become financiers to those who have been personally injured. Or at least, they shouldn’t be.

Medical liens also aren’t always appropriate nor are they treated the same from state-to-state. Think about it like this: If a doctor’s financial interests become wrapped up in a plaintiff’s court case, that patient’s care can easily appear to become compromised. With a financial interest in the outcome of the case, a doctor’s testimony may be construed by defense counsel to be biased.

The focus of the doctor should remain on the appropriate level of care, and their medical opinion should be based solely on the patient’s condition. And, rightfully so, they should be getting paid for their services along the way.

Attorneys can help plaintiffs seek medical funding. But just like medical professionals, the attorney’s focus should be on what they do best: representing their clients. In most states, attorneys are precluded by various bar associations and ethics rulings from offering to cover the costs of their clients’ medical care. Like medical professionals, the integrity of their services could be compromised.

What Does Non-Recourse Really Mean?

When seeking out medical funding, in states where it is permitted, look for a non-recourse funding source like Gain. Naturally, non-recourse is the opposite of recourse financing, which are funds you agree to pay back. If you default on a recourse loan, for instance, the lender will still require repayment and can seek restitution.

Non-recourse financing, on the other hand, means you don’t pay the money back if you don’t win your case. However, if a plaintiff does win his or her personal injury case or receive a settlement, the repayment comes out of the judgment or settlement.

Non-recourse funding cash advances are also referred to as pre-settlement legal funding, since the plaintiff is receiving this non-recourse lump sum of money before the personal injury case is brought to court and/or the settlement is awarded.

Get Covered for Your Care

With zero out-of-pocket costs, and even the possibility to receive funding the same day you submit your application, medical funding is an option to cover the costs of medical treatment, no matter how expensive the care is anticipated to be.

When a third-party company provides medical funding, you can be certain your medical treatment and legal representation will not be compromised and there will be no competing interests at stake in your case.

If you’ve suffered a personal injury through no fault of your own, medical funding allows you to focus on getting better. You no longer need to worry about how you’ll pay your expensive medical bills from an incident that was never your fault in the first place.

Need funding for your medical expenses? Explore Gain’s medical funding options and get the financial assistance you need quickly and easily.