WHEN DOES PAYING EXTRA FOR MEDICAL COVERAGE ON AUTO POLICIES MAKE SENSE?

WHEN DOES PAYING EXTRA FOR MEDICAL COVERAGE ON AUTO POLICIES MAKE SENSE?

- Totally get the “am I just paying for peace of mind?” thing. Sometimes it feels like insurance companies are just selling us anxiety management.
- Here’s how I see it: If you’ve got solid health insurance, the extra auto medical coverage might feel a bit like buying two umbrellas for one rainstorm.
- BUT... if you’re hauling friends around, that’s where it gets tricky. Your health insurance doesn’t cover your passengers (unless you’re secretly running a mobile hospital).
- Also, some health plans have high deductibles or weird exclusions for car accidents—found that out the hard way after my cousin’s fender bender last year. He thought he was covered, then got smacked with a fat bill because his plan only paid so much for accident-related stuff.
- Personally, I pay a little extra for the coverage because my friends seem to have worse luck than me (knock on wood), and I’d rather be the over-prepared guy than the one explaining why someone’s stuck with a bill.

At the end of the day, it comes down to how much risk you wanna juggle. Sometimes peace of mind is worth a few bucks... sometimes it’s just another line on the bill.

WHEN DOES PAYING EXTRA FOR MEDICAL COVERAGE ON AUTO POLICIES MAKE SENSE?

I kinda wrestled with this when we got our minivan. We do a lot of weekend trips with the kids and their friends, so it’s not just about me and my wife anymore. Honestly, I used to think the extra medical coverage was just a sneaky way for insurance to squeeze more out of us. But then my neighbor’s son got into a minor crash with a couple of his buddies in the car, and one of them ended up needing stitches. Their health insurance was a mess—parents had to cover a chunk out of pocket because the plan didn’t fully kick in for car accidents.

That made me rethink it. I guess if it was just me commuting solo, I’d probably skip it. But with family and friends in the mix, I’d rather pay a bit more than risk those “surprise” bills. Still feels a little like paying for something I might never use, but I guess that’s the gamble with insurance in general.

I get the worry, especially with kids and friends in the car, but honestly, I kinda see it the other way. My health insurance is actually pretty solid, so paying extra for medical on my auto policy just feels like double-dipping. I checked with my agent and apparently, my health plan would cover most stuff unless it’s some weird edge case. If you’ve got a high deductible or a lot of passengers all the time, sure, maybe it makes sense. But for me, I’d rather put that extra cash toward gas or snacks for road trips... priorities, right?

paying extra for medical on my auto policy just feels like double-dipping

I get where you're coming from. Honestly, I used to think the same way until my cousin got rear-ended and ended up with a pile of ambulance and ER bills. Her health insurance covered most of it, but there was this weird out-of-network thing with the ambulance that left her stuck with a big chunk. That said, if your plan is solid and you don’t haul people around much, I can see why you’d skip it. Just depends how much risk you’re willing to roll with, I guess.

- Totally get the “double-dipping” vibe, but here’s how I look at it:
- Medical payments on your auto policy kick in regardless of fault. That’s handy if you’re in a classic and someone else screws up.
-

“there was this weird out-of-network thing with the ambulance”