Rehab For Brain Injuries is Expensive and Rarely Covered By Insurance
It may come as a surprise to many, but insurance companies will rarely cover the kind of rehabilitation necessary to recover from brain injuries similar to those recently suffered by U.S. Representative Gabriel Giffords. Such was the case of Scott Hamilton, who was involved in a motorcycle accident a few years ago in San Francisco. According to a USA Today article, intensive rehabilitation like that now provided to Rep. Giffords, is often not covered by insurance companies.
She is one of the "lucky ones" - according to the article - because being a federal employee injured on the job, the Federal Employee's Compensation Act covers her rehab for as long as needed.
Luckily for Scott, at the end his insurance company agreed to pay for his rehabilitation. However, as stated before, most brain injury patients are not as lucky...
Staggering Numbers
About 1.7 million people suffer traumatic brain injuries each year, mostly from motor vehicle accidents, strokes, assaults, falls, gunshot wounds and accidents that happen while engaged in sports activities. On the other hand, the total cost of rehabilitation per patient is on average $162,194.00 for initial brain trauma care and $59,862.00 for two weeks of inpatient rehab. Moreover, outpatient rehabilitation can last for weeks, months or years at a cost between $600.00 and $1,000.00 a day...
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