DNA Life Stories - Medical Payments

Carl, 62
Married grandfather near retirement
Last summer my wife and I were on vacation and I drove into a sudden patch of fog. I had never seen fog this bad before, much less driven in it. I couldn’t even see the edge of the road!

Next thing I know, my car is mangled together with a truck that had been coming from the other direction. It was an awful mess. My wife and I both had injuries.

We recovered just fine, and my Medical Payments coverage helped us out with our hospital bills. But I can tell you that’s not the best way to spend a vacation.

Tim, 35
Married rookie dad
Now that I’m a father, I take insurance a lot more seriously. I want to keep my family safe, of course, but I also want to make sure I can always provide for them.

That’s one of the reasons I increased our Medical Payments coverage. Now if we get in an accident, it can help pay our hospital bills without us having to dip into our retirement savings or the baby’s college fund. Thinking about worst-case scenarios sure isn’t pleasant. But hey—now I have one less thing to worry about.

Eric, 43
Single dad of two, going back to school
I always assumed the insurance I get through my employer would pay for everything if I got hurt. I didn’t find out how wrong I was until my little fender-bender on campus last semester.

I wasn’t even hurt bad enough to miss work, but just getting checked out at the hospital meant I had to pay my full deductible and some ugly co-pays. But with my Medical Payments coverage, I was able pay everything off without falling behind in my bills.

Alice, 45
Single mother of two
A while back I got hurt in an accident. My boyfriend and I got hit by another driver after they ran right through a stop sign. It was scary, but thankfully I wasn’t seriously hurt.

What was scary was the hospital bill that came afterwards. I’ve got health insurance through my job, but my co-payment situation meant I had to pay expenses out of my own pocket. I was able to submit those co-pays as a claim to Allstate, and my Medical Payments coverage reimbursed me.

Heather, 64
Widowed and retired
At my age, two of my highest priorities are keeping my body in good shape and protecting my finances. I’m in perfect health and I want to keep it that way!

So even though I have good health insurance, I decided to get extra Medical Payments coverage. That way if I get in an accident, the Medical Payments coverage will help pay for the deductible and co-payments that my health insurance charges.

Amy, 32
Married, no kids, buying her first home
When our Allstate agent gave us the option to get as much Medical Payments coverage as we could afford, I did just that. Hey, I know how fast medical bills add up. It’s a relief to know that if we got in an accident, this coverage would help pay for an ambulance ride or x-rays, or even surgery.

Sometimes my husband teases me about being a worrier, but I don’t care. He’ll thank me someday.

Mike, 23
Recent grad starting first job
Coming back from winter break my senior year, I caught a ride to school with one of my friends. We were halfway there when some guy drifted into our lane and plowed right into us.

We were going pretty fast (since highways are like that), and we got tossed around pretty bad. All of us ended up in the emergency room. Not good. Anyway, I’m really lucky that my friend’s Medical Payments coverage helped cover me too, even though I was just a passenger. I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to handle those hospital bills by myself.

Jenny, 24
Young professional, just married and getting ready to move in with husband
This is a pretty painful story. One morning I caused a car crash on my way to work. It was when I was planning my wedding, and I was probably too tired to be driving.

When we crashed I banged my face on the steering wheel and ended up having to go to the dentist for some major work. It was not fun.

Since the accident was my fault, I figured I’d have to pay the dentist’s bills. But my Medical Payments coverage actually covered some of the bills. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise.

Greg, 22
About to graduate and buying his first car
When my roommate wrecked my car, there were five people in it. Five ambulance rides. Five visits to the emergency room. Not to mention the stitches and the mess of other injuries.

My bills were bigger than I ever thought they could get. I had always griped about the extra Medical Payments coverage my dad made me get, but now I’m grateful. Between that and the fact that I was still on my parent’s health insurance policy, the damages that weren't covered weren’t too bad for me or my dad. I don’t know what I would have done without it.