> I mean what am I paying them for? The reimbursement right that the insurance company has is called subrogation. The basic idea is that whoever was at fault s

> I mean what am I paying them for? The reimbursement right that the insurance company has is called subrogation. The basic idea is that whoever was at fault shouldn't be better off because the injured party had insurance; otherwise it would be rational for individuals to not have insurance as long as most other people do have insurance. Subrogation means someone will still sue you into the ground even if the person you hurt was made whole by insurance. There can be many links in the insurance chain before you get to the person who actually caused the problem, and in your case it sounds like UMC was the final link. At least, this is the stated public policy reason for subrogation. You are right that your health insurer got reimbursed even though they promised to cover your loved ones, and that feels weird.