By the Drivers Compass editors · Updated October 31, 2026
Medical payments coverage, usually written as MedPay, pays medical bills or funeral costs for you and your passengers after an accident, no matter who caused it (Insurify, undated). It has no deductible and no copay of its own (Insurify, undated), and the limit you buy applies to each injured person rather than to the accident as a whole (Bankrate, undated).
It is optional in most states, mandatory in a few, and not sold at all in four. It never pays for the other driver's injuries, your lost wages, or your car.
What Medical Payments Coverage Actually Pays For
MedPay is first-party injury coverage. The payout basis is not actual cash value (ACV), stated amount or agreed value — those bases belong to physical damage coverages. MedPay reimburses medical and funeral expenses actually incurred, up to the per-person limit printed on your declarations page, with no deductible and no copay subtracted (Insurify, undated). Covered expenses can include doctor visits, hospital visits, and your health insurance deductibles and co-pays (Progressive, undated), and follow-up care such as physical therapy, specialist visits and X-rays counts up to your coverage limit (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15).
It pays regardless of who caused the crash and regardless of whether the other driver is ever identified; hit-and-run bills are filed through your own policy (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15). The limit applies to each injured individual, not as a single pot shared across everyone in the car (Bankrate, undated).
Constructed illustration, not filed loss data. You carry $10,000 per person in MedPay — limits are typically sold between $1,000 and $100,000 (Bankrate, undated) — on a policy in Maine, an at-fault (tort) state, so fault decides who pays for the damage but has no bearing on MedPay. You rear-end another car and both you and your front-seat passenger are injured. MedPay applies up to $10,000 to your bills and a separate $10,000 to your passenger's, with nothing deducted first and neither person drawing down the other's limit. Bills above the limit are not covered (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15) and fall to health insurance, a liability claim, or you. If your health plan later pays the same bills, it can seek reimbursement out of the MedPay payout through subrogation in most states (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15), so ask your adjuster who is paying which bill before you spend anything.
You cannot buy MedPay on its own: you must carry auto liability coverage to add it, and the injury has to arise from an auto-related accident (Bankrate, undated).
What It Doesn't Cover
- Injuries to the other driver or their passengers. Those are paid by your bodily injury liability limits, not MedPay (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15).
- Lost wages and time off work. MedPay pays medical bills only (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15). Personal injury protection in no-fault states typically includes a wage benefit; MedPay never does.
- Car repairs, towing and rental cars. Vehicle damage runs through collision, comprehensive and rental reimbursement coverage, each with its own deductible (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15).
- Non-medical expenses of any kind — childcare while you recover, household help, travel costs, replacement of damaged belongings (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15).
- Any medical bill above your per-person limit. On a policy written at Pennsylvania's required medical payments limit of $5,000 (Freeway Insurance, undated), every dollar of a hospital bill past $5,000 falls to health insurance, a liability claim against the at-fault driver, or you (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15).
- Injuries that did not arise from an auto-related accident. You have to be hurt in a vehicle-related incident to use it (Bankrate, undated).
- Duplicate recovery. Where your health insurer pays bills MedPay already reimbursed, it can recover from your MedPay payout by subrogation in most states (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15).
Typical Limits and Deductibles
Standard policies typically let you buy between $1,000 and $100,000 in medical payments coverage (Bankrate, undated). Every limit below is per injured person, not per accident (Bankrate, undated). Premium effect varies by state, insurer and underwriting company, zip code, vehicle and driving record.
| Limit or deductible option | What it means in a claim | Approximate premium effect |
|---|---|---|
| $1,000 per person | New Hampshire's statutory minimum on any policy sold there, under RSA 264:16 (InsuranceRateGuard, undated). One emergency room visit often exhausts it. | Lowest MedPay premium available; baseline for comparison — illustrative estimate |
| $2,000 per person | Maine's statutory minimum under Title 29-A, Section 1605-A (InsuranceRateGuard, undated). Covers a modest ER visit or a health plan deductible. | A small step above the $1,000 baseline — illustrative estimate |
| $5,000 per person | Pennsylvania's required medical payments limit (Freeway Insurance, undated). Covers an ER visit plus some imaging and therapy. | Still a minor line item next to liability and collision — illustrative estimate |
| $10,000 per person | Each injured person gets up to $10,000 before the cap bites; bills above it are uncovered (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15). | Moving from $2,000 to $10,000 on a Travelers auto policy runs around $10 per year, per an agent source cited by Bankrate (undated) |
| $100,000 per person | The top of the range typically offered (Bankrate, undated). Aimed at drivers who carry passengers often or hold high-deductible health plans. | Rises at each step, but stays small next to bodily injury liability premium — illustrative estimate |
| Deductible | None at any limit. MedPay has no deductible and no copay (Insurify, undated). | No deductible credit exists, so you cannot cut the price by taking one on |
Is It Required, and By Whom
State law. In most states medical payments coverage is optional and you can decline it while still carrying a compliant policy. Three exceptions worth naming:
- Maine requires every auto policy to include at least $2,000 per person in medical payments, under Title 29-A, Section 1605-A (InsuranceRateGuard, undated).
- New Hampshire does not require drivers to carry auto insurance at all, but a policy purchased there must include at least $1,000 per person in medical payments, under RSA 264:16 (InsuranceRateGuard, undated).
- Pennsylvania's required medical payments limit is $5,000 (Freeway Insurance, undated).
MedPay is simply unavailable in Minnesota, New York, North Dakota and Oregon (SoFi, undated); drivers there rely on the state's personal injury protection or no-fault medical benefit instead. Because no-fault rules, mandatory PIP benefits and MedPay availability are set state by state, check your own state's financial responsibility law or insurance department before assuming any of the above applies to you.
Lenders and lienholders. No auto lender or lessor requires MedPay. Loan and lease agreements require physical damage coverage — comprehensive and collision — plus liability at the limits the contract names, because the lender's interest is the car, not the people in it. If a finance company tells you MedPay is required, ask to see the clause: a contract requirement and a statutory one are not the same thing.
The condition that applies everywhere it is sold is that you must carry auto liability coverage in order to purchase medical payments coverage (Bankrate, undated).
Questions
Does MedPay pay for a rental car while mine is repaired?
No. Medical payments coverage does not cover car repairs or rental cars (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15). Rental costs come from rental reimbursement coverage and repairs from collision or comprehensive, each with its own deductible. MedPay pays medical and funeral expenses only.
I already have health insurance. Is MedPay duplicate coverage?
Not entirely. MedPay carries no deductible or copay of its own (Insurify, undated), and covered expenses can include your health insurance deductibles and co-pays (Progressive, undated). The catch is that if your health insurer ends up paying bills MedPay already reimbursed, it can recover from the MedPay payout through subrogation in most states (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15).
Does it cover me if a car hits me while I'm walking or cycling?
Yes — MedPay covers medical costs if you are hit as a pedestrian or cyclist (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15). The governing condition is that the injury must arise from an auto-related accident (Bankrate, undated), so a cycling fall with no vehicle involved falls outside it. Read your own policy's definition of a covered accident before filing.
What happens in a hit-and-run where the other driver is never found?
MedPay pays regardless of fault and regardless of whether the other driver is identified, filed as a claim on your own policy (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15). It still stops at your per-person limit and pays nothing toward vehicle damage — that is collision or, in some states, uninsured motorist property damage. Claims are adjudicated case by case, so nothing here settles how your file will be handled.
How is MedPay different from personal injury protection?
The clearest difference is wage loss: MedPay does not cover lost wages (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15), while PIP in no-fault states typically pays a wage benefit alongside medical expenses. PIP requirements and whether you can buy MedPay at all are set state by state — it is unavailable in Minnesota, New York, North Dakota and Oregon (SoFi, undated). Check your state's statute rather than assuming the two behave alike.
Is a $5,000 limit enough?
That turns on your health plan's deductible, how often you carry passengers, and what you can absorb out of pocket, so no one can settle it for your situation from the outside. MedPay pays nothing above your limit (MoneyGeek, 2026-08-15), and limits typically run from $1,000 to $100,000 per person (Bankrate, undated). On cost, moving from $2,000 to $10,000 on a Travelers auto policy runs around $10 per year, per an agent source cited by Bankrate (undated); your own insurer's filed rates will differ.