What Medical Payments Coverage Does
Medical payments coverage (MedPay) pays medical bills for you and your passengers after a car accident, regardless of who caused the crash. It covers hospital visits, ambulance rides, surgery, X-rays, dental work from the accident, and funeral expenses up to the per-person limit you choose when you buy the coverage. Ohio does not require MedPay, but many carriers offer it as an optional add-on to your auto policy.
When you insure multiple vehicles on one policy, MedPay applies to every car and every household member listed on that policy. If your teenager drives one car and you drive another, both vehicles carry the same MedPay limit you selected. The coverage follows the insured vehicles, not individual drivers, so any passenger in any of your household's cars is covered up to the per-person limit if they are injured in a crash involving one of those vehicles.
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Get Your Free QuoteOhio Minimum Liability Limits
$25,000 / $50,000 / $25,000
Ohio requires $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 property damage. These liability minimums do not include medical payments coverage for your own injuries — MedPay is a separate optional coverage that pays your medical bills regardless of fault.
Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles
How MedPay Works with Health Insurance
MedPay pays first, before your health insurance. When you are injured in a car accident, MedPay covers your medical bills immediately up to your policy limit, with no deductible and no copay. After MedPay is exhausted, your health insurance picks up the remaining bills subject to your health plan's deductible and copay rules. This means MedPay can cover your health insurance deductible and out-of-pocket costs, which can be substantial if you carry a high-deductible health plan.
For households insuring multiple vehicles, this layering matters when several family members are injured in the same crash. Each person injured in the accident can claim up to the per-person MedPay limit. Health insurance covers the rest, but MedPay shields each person from their health plan's deductible and initial out-of-pocket costs.
MedPay also covers passengers who are not on your health insurance plan. If a friend or relative rides in one of your household's vehicles and is injured in a crash, MedPay pays their medical bills up to the per-person limit regardless of whether they have health insurance. Your health insurance does not cover non-household passengers, but MedPay does.
Choosing a MedPay Limit for Multiple Vehicles
Households that regularly transport passengers who are not on the family health plan — carpooling with coworkers, driving elderly relatives, or transporting children's friends — benefit from higher MedPay limits because those passengers have no other immediate coverage for their medical bills. MedPay pays immediately; liability claims can take months.
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MedPay and At-Fault Crashes
MedPay pays your medical bills even when you cause the crash. Ohio is an at-fault state, which means the driver who caused the accident is liable for the other party's injuries, but that driver's own injuries are not covered by their liability insurance. If you cause a crash and are injured, your liability coverage pays the other driver's medical bills, but it does not pay yours. MedPay fills that gap by covering your own medical expenses regardless of fault.
For households with multiple drivers, this no-fault feature matters most for newer or less experienced drivers who are statistically more likely to cause a crash. A teenage driver who causes an accident and is injured will have their medical bills covered by MedPay up to the policy limit, even though they were at fault. Without MedPay, that driver's medical bills go straight to the household's health insurance, triggering the deductible and copays immediately.
MedPay also covers injuries sustained as a pedestrian or bicyclist if you are hit by a car. If a household member is struck by a vehicle while walking or biking, MedPay on your auto policy pays their medical bills up to the per-person limit. This extends the coverage beyond just car occupants and provides a layer of protection for household members who commute on foot or by bike.
Ohio Uninsured Motorist Rate
18.5%
Nearly one in five Ohio drivers carries no insurance. When an uninsured driver causes a crash, MedPay pays your medical bills immediately while you pursue a liability claim against the at-fault driver, which can take months to resolve and may never fully recover your costs.
Insurance Research Council, 2023
MedPay Cost and Policy Structure
MedPay is inexpensive relative to the coverage it provides. Carriers price MedPay based on the per-person limit you choose, the number of vehicles on your policy, and your household's claims history. Adding MedPay to a multi-vehicle policy typically costs less per vehicle than adding it to a single-car policy because the risk is spread across more vehicles and more premium dollars. The exact cost varies by carrier, but MedPay is generally one of the lower-cost optional coverages available.
When you add MedPay to a multi-vehicle policy, the same per-person limit applies to every vehicle on the policy. You cannot choose different MedPay limits for different cars. For most households, choosing one MedPay limit that covers the highest deductible or worst-case scenario across all household members is the most cost-effective approach.
Compare Carriers and MedPay Options
Not every carrier offers the same MedPay limits or prices MedPay the same way. When you compare quotes for your household's vehicles, confirm that each carrier offers the MedPay limit you need and ask how MedPay coordinates with your health insurance. Carriers that write multi-vehicle policies in Ohio include State Farm, Progressive, Geico, Allstate, Nationwide, and others listed in the state's carrier roster, and each structures MedPay slightly differently.
Start by listing your household's health insurance deductibles, the number of people who regularly ride in your vehicles, and whether you transport passengers who are not on your health plan. Use that information to choose a MedPay limit that covers your household's worst-case medical expense scenario. Then compare quotes from multiple carriers to find the policy that combines the MedPay limit you need with the multi-car discount that fits your household's budget.