Uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage

No.You need it. Believe me.

UM economic only coveres bills only. Full on UM would cover pain/suffering or whatever if the other driver is under or uninsured.

Carry as much as you can afford.

don't drop UMBI coverage

I actually had to use my UM once. I wish I had had more. Letting people only carry 15k in liability is a joke.

Your UM coverage also compensates you for "pain and suffering" due to injuries caused by the uninsured/underinsured motorist.

Protection against underinsured motorists is valuable. Get it.

Your medical insurer's contract typically has language specifying their rights when a third party such as another motorists (either through their liability coverage or your uninsured coverage if they are uninsured) is responsible.

When you go for treatment you will likely sign a form saying that your medical treatment provider or your insurer can recover against anyone who may be responsible. They will ask if it was an accident and if someone was at fault.

This will result in a lien letter to your attorney or the other driver's insurer, and your medical provider and insurer will get reimbursed from any settlement or judgment you achieve.

Sometimes this results in your medical insurer not paying your provider and pointing at the auto insurers. Meanwhile you get bills and demand letters and hope it doesn't hit your credit report.

Question - If you get rear-ended, end up with a herniated cervical disc, and need surgery and spend a year or two in pain and your case is worth $500,000 - will you be happy getting $15k for your pain and suffering or do you want more?

It's only helpful IF you would like The option to "sue" your own policy for pain and suffering in the event that you are hit and hurt by an uninsured or underinsured motorist in Louisiana.
If you have a great health insurance plan, uninsured motorist is just lagniappe.

As a lawyer, having UM coverage is important. The most common UM claims I deal with in SC tend to be John Doe claims, where a motorist is injured due to the negligence of a driver who is unidentified, either because the unidentified motorist flees or legally drives away because there was no contact with another vehicle.

As far as having good health insurance, I'll give you an example. Let's say you get in a wreck with an unknown driver and have $60k in medical bills. Let's also say you have good health insurance and $100k in UM coverage. Your health insurance will likely cover all of your medical expenses and you will likely be able to collect the UM policy limits. While your health insurer will have a subrogation lien on the settlement, you can usually satisfy the insurance lien for 25-50% of the total amount. After lawyer fees, this still leaves you with between $40k and $50k after the case is over.