Who Pays for Long-Term Care After a Spinal Cord Injury in Lawrenceville?

A spinal cord injury can create medical and personal-care needs for years. You may need rehabilitation, skilled nursing, attendant care, medications, mobility equipment, accessible transportation, or home modifications. After a spinal cord injury in Lawrenceville, Georgia, a critical financial question is who will pay for that care.

The answer depends on how you were injured, available insurance or public benefits, and whether another party is legally responsible. Below, Butler Kahn explains the main ways long-term spinal cord injury care may be paid for, including insurance, public benefits, and compensation from the party who is at fault.

Compensation Can Include Future Care

A spinal cord injury may require years of medical treatment, rehabilitation, assistance, and other care. If another person or business caused the injury through negligence, your claim may include the cost of the care you are expected to need in the future.

Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-1.1, you may recover the reasonable value of medically necessary medical and healthcare services, including future care made necessary by the injury.

For a serious spinal cord injury case, those expenses may include rehabilitation, nursing, attendant care, medical equipment, and other necessary services. Treating physicians and life care planners may help establish what care you will need and what it is expected to cost.

Insurance May Help Pay for Long-Term Care After a Lawrenceville Crash

Liability insurance often funds a personal injury recovery. If your injury resulted from a motor vehicle crash in Lawrenceville or elsewhere in Gwinnett County, the driver’s liability coverage may provide compensation for future care.

If that driver had no insurance or insufficient insurance, O.C.G.A. § 33-7-11 may allow you to seek uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits under an applicable policy. This coverage can help when the person who is at fault has no liability insurance or does not carry enough coverage to compensate you for your covered losses.

Health Insurance May Pay for Care Before a Settlement

Health insurance may pay for covered hospital treatment, rehabilitation, physician services, prescriptions, equipment, and other care while your personal injury claim is pending.

Under O.C.G.A. § 33-24-56.1, certain health benefit providers have limited rights to recover medical payments from a personal injury recovery. Typically, a provider cannot obtain reimbursement unless you have first been fully compensated for your losses, and the provider must bear its share of attorney fees and litigation expenses.

Georgia Medicaid May Help Pay for Long-Term Care

For certain victims with significant disabilities, Georgia Medicaid may provide certain long-term services and supports, including nursing facility care or qualifying home- and community-based services.

If Medicaid pays injury-related expenses for which another party is legally responsible, O.C.G.A. § 49-4-148 allows the Georgia Department of Community Health to seek reimbursement for medical assistance. Under O.C.G.A. § 49-4-149, part of a settlement may have to be used to satisfy qualifying Medicaid reimbursement rights before the remaining funds are available for future care.

Workers’ Compensation May Cover Long-Term Care After a Work Injury

If your spinal cord injury occurred at work in Lawrenceville, Georgia workers’ compensation may pay authorized medical treatment.

Under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-200, an employer or its workers’ compensation insurer must provide qualifying medical treatment for a compensable work injury. For certain injuries, medical benefits are generally limited to 400 weeks.

O.C.G.A. § 34-9-200.1 treats a spinal cord injury involving severe paralysis of an arm, a leg, or the trunk as a catastrophic injury. If your injury is catastrophic, the employer must provide reasonable and necessary rehabilitation services. That can be especially important when the injury requires substantial continuing rehabilitation or assistance.

If someone other than your employer caused the work injury, O.C.G.A. § 34-9-11.1 may allow you to pursue a separate claim against that third party while also giving the employer or workers’ compensation insurer certain rights to reimbursement from the recovery.

Lawrenceville Georgia Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer

When a spinal cord injury creates lifelong care needs, the value of future care should be addressed before you settle. Butler Kahn has significant experience with this type of catastrophic injury. In one case, the firm achieved a $4 million settlement for a 19-year-old client who suffered a spinal cord injury and paralysis from the waist down. Butler Kahn’s attorneys have also received recognition including Georgia Trend’s “Legal Elite” and placement by The National Law Journal among its “Top 50 Elite Trial Lawyers.”

If you sustained a spinal cord injury, contact Butler Kahn by calling (678) 940-1444 or contacting us online for a free consultation with a Lawrenceville spinal cord injury lawyer.

Matt Kahn State Bar: #279286

Matt Kahn is an Atlanta personal injury lawyer and a partner at the law firm Butler Kahn. Matt has dedicated his career to fighting for individuals and families who had been harmed by the negligence of others. At Butler Kahn, he has had the honor of helping families who have lost children in motor vehicle accidents and people who were critically injured. He helped a family secure a $45 million settlement to provide lifetime care for their son, who was critically injured in a motorcycle accident, a $40 million settlement in a guardrail case, a $30 million settlement in a pedestrian case, a $3.5 million settlement in a sexual assault case. Matt is a graduate of Emory University School of Law and has been recognized as a Super Lawyers’ Rising Star and by Best Lawyers as One to Watch. He has received an Avvo 10.0 Top Attorney rating. Connect with me on LinkedIn