Hurt in an Uber Accident in Georgia: Who Pays My Medical Bills?

If you were hurt in an Uber or Lyft accident in Georgia, the at-fault driver’s liability insurance usually pays your medical bills. It usually pays once, in a settlement or verdict, not bill by bill. If the rideshare driver caused the crash during a trip, Georgia requires that coverage to be at least $1 million (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24).

Until then, your health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or optional medical payments coverage usually pays your providers, and some of them can seek repayment from your recovery. Georgia is an at-fault state that requires liability insurance, not personal injury protection (PIP), so unless you bought optional medical payments coverage, no auto policy pays your bills just because you were hurt.

Who Pays Medical Bills After an Uber Accident in Georgia?

Money reaches your doctors and hospital in roughly this order. Not every source applies to every crash.

• Right away: your health coverage. Health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid pays providers while the injury claim is open.
• Right away, if you bought it: MedPay. Medical payments coverage is an optional part of a Georgia auto policy.
• At settlement: the at-fault driver’s liability insurance. This is the rideshare company’s policy if your driver caused the crash during a trip, or the other driver’s policy if that driver caused it.
• At settlement, if limits fall short: uninsured motorist coverage. The rideshare policy’s UM coverage and your own UM coverage may add to what the at-fault driver’s insurer pays.
• Out of the settlement: repayment. Valid hospital liens, health plan reimbursement claims, Medicare and Medicaid are usually resolved from the recovery before you receive the balance.

The sections below explain the Georgia rules behind each step.

Written by attorney Jonathan Flack. Before founding Flack Injury Law, Jonathan spent two and a half years on the insurance side of commercial truck, tractor-trailer and medical transport van cases. Super Lawyers Rising Star (2024 to 2027). The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, Civil Plaintiff (2026). GTLA member. Last reviewed: November 1, 2026.

Step One: The At-Fault Driver’s Liability Insurance

If your Uber or Lyft driver caused the crash

Georgia requires at least $1 million in liability coverage from the moment the driver accepts a ride until the ride ends (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24(b)(3)). Uber’s insurance page says it maintains this coverage, and Lyft’s says it does in most markets. Your medical bills are part of the damages that policy may pay once fault is established.

As a passenger on an accepted trip, you are in the $1 million period. Our Atlanta Uber and Lyft accident lawyer page explains each app period and who else can claim.

If another driver caused the crash

That driver’s liability insurer pays first. Georgia’s minimum is only $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for injuries, according to the state insurance commissioner’s office. When the limits are too low for your bills and other losses, uninsured motorist coverage is next.

If both drivers share the blame

Georgia divides damages by each party’s percentage of fault (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33). A passenger who did nothing to cause the crash can claim against both drivers’ policies. Your recovery is reduced only by your own share of fault, if any.

Step Two: Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage

During a trip, the rideshare policy must include uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM) coverage. For crashes on or after July 1, 2023, the minimum is $300,000 per accident, with up to $100,000 per person (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24(b)(3), as amended by House Bill 529). Before that date, the requirement was $1 million. Our post on the 2023 change to Uber and Lyft UM coverage explains who it affects.

Your own UM coverage may also apply. Georgia auto policies include UM coverage unless a named insured rejected it in writing (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11). It also covers relatives living in the named insured’s household. A parent’s or spouse’s policy may cover you even if you do not own a car.

Georgia UM coverage is added on top of the at-fault driver’s liability limits by default, unless the policyholder chose the reduced option in writing. Our guide to uninsured motorist coverage in Georgia covers stacking and the forms insurers use.

If the driver who hit your Uber drove off, UM coverage may still pay. Georgia requires physical contact with that vehicle or an eyewitness other than you who backs up your account, and the crash must be reported to police (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11).

Why Uber and Lyft Do Not Pay Your Medical Bills as You Go

Georgia’s rideshare statute requires liability and UM coverage. It does not require Uber or Lyft to carry medical payments or PIP coverage for passengers (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24(b)). Liability coverage pays what the at-fault driver legally owes you, and fault comes first.

Uber’s own crash page says coverage may vary depending on who is at fault. It also says Uber’s claims team helps report the crash to the insurance provider in your state, and that coverage is explained once the claim is submitted to the carrier.

In practice, an adjuster may wait until you finish treatment to discuss payment, while the bills come to you.

Step Three: Health Insurance, MedPay, Medicare and Medicaid

Health insurance

Use your health insurance for crash injuries. Under Georgia law, a health insurer or benefit plan can be reimbursed from your injury recovery only if the recovery fully compensates all of your losses (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-56.1). Its claim is also reduced by its share of your attorney’s fees and expenses.

The same statute bars these insurers from subrogating medical payments directly against the at-fault driver. Some employer plans governed by federal law (ERISA) may not be bound by Georgia’s rule, so the plan documents matter.

MedPay

Medical payments coverage is optional in Georgia. If you bought it, check whether it covers you as a passenger in another car. Ask your insurer in writing whether it claims a right to be repaid.

Medicare

Medicare may pay first when another payer is responsible, but those are conditional payments. According to CMS, they must be repaid when you receive a settlement, judgment or award from a liability insurer.

Medicaid

Georgia’s Department of Community Health has a lien on money you recover from a liable party, up to what Medicaid paid (O.C.G.A. § 49-4-149). To enforce the lien through Georgia’s hospital lien procedure, it has one year from the last date of care to file a verified lien statement. The lien does not affect the priority of your attorney’s lien.

Hospital and Doctor Liens in Georgia

Georgia gives hospitals, nursing homes, physician practices and traumatic burn care practices a lien for reasonable charges (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-470). The lien attaches to your injury claim. It is not a lien against you or your other property.

To make the lien valid, the provider must send written notice at least 15 days before filing (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-471). A hospital must then file a verified statement within 75 days after discharge, and a physician practice within 90 days after you first sought treatment. A lien filed late is generally invalid, unless the liable party had actual notice before settling.

Whether a hospital’s contract with your health insurer limits its lien depends on the contract’s terms, and Georgia courts have reached different results. Give every provider your health insurance card, even after a crash someone else caused. Our post on hospital liens in Georgia settlements explains how liens are negotiated.

How Georgia’s 2025 Tort Reform Changed Medical Bill Claims

Governor Kemp signed Senate Bill 68 on April 21, 2025. For crashes on or after that date, medical damages are limited to the reasonable value of medically necessary care (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-1.1).

If you have health insurance, the jury may now hear what providers charged and what it actually took to satisfy the bills. That is true whether or not you used the insurance. Treating under a letter of protection is also more exposed. The arrangement, itemized charges, any sale of the bills and who referred you are all discoverable.

For many passengers, that makes billing health insurance the better choice. It often keeps the bills lower and may help avoid a fight over inflated charges.

SB 68 also changed seat belt evidence. Not wearing a seat belt may now be considered on fault and causation and may reduce damages (O.C.G.A. § 40-8-76.1(d)). Georgia requires adults to buckle up only in the front seat, but the new rule covers a belt not worn in any seat, so insurers may raise it with back-seat passengers too.

What to Do Now to Protect Your Medical Bills Claim

• Get checked the same day or the next, and follow through on referrals. Gaps in treatment give insurers an argument.
• Tell each provider you were hurt in a rideshare crash, and give them your health insurance card.
• Report the crash in the app and screenshot the trip, including the driver, vehicle, plate and times. Save the ride receipt.
• Keep every bill, explanation of benefits and letter about a lien or reimbursement claim.
• Write down missed work and out-of-pocket costs.
• Do not give a recorded statement or sign a medical authorization or release for an insurer before getting advice. Our guide to calls from insurance adjusters explains why.
• Mark the deadline. Most injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the crash (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33).

For more on keeping up with bills during a claim, see how to manage medical bills while your claim is pending.

Uber Accident Medical Bills Questions

Will Uber pay my medical bills right away?

Usually not. Uber’s Georgia rideshare insurance is liability and UM coverage, which usually pays in one settlement after treatment.

Who pays my medical bills if I’m hurt in an Uber in Georgia?

The at-fault driver’s liability insurance pays in the end. If your Uber driver caused the crash during your trip, that is a policy of at least $1 million (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24). Until then, your health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or MedPay usually pays.

Does Georgia require PIP coverage that pays my bills?

No. Georgia requires liability insurance, and medical payments coverage is optional. The rideshare statute does not require Uber or Lyft to carry PIP or MedPay for passengers.

Will I have to pay my health insurance back?

Possibly, but Georgia limits it. A health insurer can be reimbursed only if your recovery fully compensates your losses, and its share is reduced for attorney’s fees (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-56.1). Some federally governed employer plans and Medicare follow different rules.

Can a hospital put a lien on my house after an Uber accident?

Not through Georgia’s hospital lien law. That lien attaches only to your injury claim, not to you or your other property (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-470). An unpaid bill may still be pursued in other ways.

What if the driver who hit my Uber had no insurance?

The rideshare policy’s UM coverage may pay. For crashes since July 1, 2023, Georgia’s minimum is $300,000 per accident, with up to $100,000 per person. Your own or a household relative’s UM coverage may add to that (O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11).

Related Guides

• Atlanta Uber and Lyft Accident Attorney
• Lyft Accident Lawyer in Atlanta
• Was the Uber Driver’s App on? Why It Changes Your Georgia Claim
• Uber and Lyft Cut Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Georgia: What It Means for You
• Waymo’s Driverless Cars Are in Atlanta: What Happens if One Hits You?

See all our guides for people hurt in Georgia crashes.