TAC and medical imaging
After a motor vehicle accident, you may need medical treatment.
Part of this medical treatment may involve getting medical imaging scans such as x-rays, MRIs CT and ultrasounds.
This page will explore what you need to know.
Have a TAC claim lodged and accepted
First things first, you need to have a TAC claim lodged and accepted after the accident before you can claim expenses from the TAC.
Claiming medical imaging within 90 days after the accident
If the medical imaging that you’re attempting to claim is within the first 90 days after the accident, you do not need to obtain approval from the TAC before undergoing the scan.
You just need to have a TAC claim number which you can give to the provider, and the medical imaging needs to be recommended by a doctor or other medical professional and it needs to relate to any injury or injuries that you suffered in the motor vehicle accident.
Make sure that when you are contacting the imaging provider to book in for the imaging that you let them know that you are a TAC claimant and that a referral has been made by a doctor.
Claiming medical imaging more than 90 days after the accident
If the medical imaging is to occur 90 days or after the accident occurred then you should contact the TAC for approval before undergoing the imaging scan.
So what you should do is after you have obtained the referral from your general practitioner (or other doctor) you should telephone or email the TAC and let them know that you want to undergo a particular type of medical imaging as requested by your doctor.
They may request that you send a copy of supporting material to them.
Once you have sent the request to them, you should wait a couple of weeks and if you do not hear from them you should follow them up.
If it has been more than six months since you’ve had any treatment or service paid for by the TAC then you will also need to obtain approval from the TAC.
Keep the TAC scheduled fees in mind
The TAC will pay certain fees for medical treatment and that includes imaging.
So when you are booking in for your medical imaging scan, if this is a concern to you you should ask the provider whether they bill according to TAC scheduled rates.
If they don’t and there is an amount that they will bill over and above what the TAC will pay, then you will need to pay this amount to the imaging provider.
How is payment made for medical imaging
As with most medical treatment that you claim from the TAC there are two ways that you can go about getting the expense paid for.
Firstly, you can provide your TAC claim number to the medical imaging provider and ask them to bill the TAC directly.
The second way is for you to pay the medical imaging provider and then seek reimbursement from the TAC.
How much will the TAC pay for medical imaging?
You can go to the TAC’s website and they have the specific amounts there.
Alternatively, you can telephone the TAC and ask them about the specific scan you require and ask how much they will pay.
What if the TAC won’t pay for medical imaging?
If the TAC refuse to pay for medical imaging, you can appeal that decision.
You can read about how to do that here.
In a nutshell, you can ask the TAC to perform an internal review, if you have a lawyer you can ask them to lodge a dispute application. And if the matter still doesn’t resolve, you can pursue the matter to VCAT.
