If you’re dealing with injuries from a motor vehicle collision, we know you’re all too familiar with the stress it brings, not the least of which is figuring out what insurance coverage there is and who will be paying for your treatment. Where do you turn if auto insurance runs out and you have no health insurance? What if your health insurance doesn’t cover everything you need, or has limits on the type of care being prescribed? The good news is that if you’ve been hurt as the victim of a violent crime, such as being hurt by a DUI driver, you have another option in addition to auto and health insurance: Washington’s Crime Victims Compensation Fund.
The Washingston Crime Victims Compensation Program.[1] is run by the Department of Labor & Industries, provides financial support to crime victims to help pay for medical expenses, loss of financial support – and even funeral expenses. The idea is that the medical providers send the victim’s bills to the Department of Labor & Industries through the Crime Victims Compensation Program. The types of medical providers who may qualify to bill for their services under this program are those licensed to practice one or more of the following professions:
- Medicine and surgery,
- Osteopathic medicine and surgery,
- Chiropractic/naturopathic physician,
- Podiatry,
- Dentistry,
- Optometry,
- Advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP),
- Mental health therapists, and
- Certified medical physician assistants or osteopathic physician assistants.
If you think that you may qualify for benefits under this program, and you don’t have other ways of paying for your treatment from a violent crime, you should let your medical provider know about this program. If they aren’t already an approved provider for the program, ask them to consider becoming one. Lastly, it’s important to know that if your claim is approved through the Crime Victims Compensation Program, you can’t be billed for any out of pocket expenses for treatment if you haven’t reached the maximum benefit, which is $150,000.00. What that means is that even insurance co-pays should be submitted to Crime Victims for payment.
Hopefully no one you know would ever need this
program, but good to know it’s there just in case.
