Free Care for Life, If Money Holds Out

[flashl]

Source: Washington Post


Va. Scrambles to Find Funds for Program That Aids Children Injured at Birth

Twice in the past two months, Cathy Pell drove from Manassas to the state capital to lobby lawmakers to continue giving her the money she needs to care for Abby, the youngest of her five children.

Abby, a giggly, dark-haired 3-year-old, was deprived of oxygen at birth. She can't talk or eat solid food, and she has trouble seeing and walking. Her parents enrolled her in a little-known state program that pays her medical expenses for life if they agree not to sue the doctors or hospital for malpractice.

But the Virginia birth injury program, the first of its kind in the nation, is running out of money, and the state is scrambling for a way to raise millions of dollars for more than 100 disabled children. A proposal to bolster funding for the program cleared the General Assembly last week after a contentious and emotional debate that took place largely behind closed doors. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) signed the bill into law yesterday.

...
For years, lawmakers have struggled with the issue of where to get money for the program as it has become obvious that children with serious brain injuries are living longer than doctors could have predicted when the program was created two decades ago.

Washington Post

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/05/AR2008030503546.html

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Did I read that right?

When parents agreed to not sue doctors or hospitals in exchange of ‘life time’ medical care, the lawmakers 'life' expectation was just one or two years?

[Ayesha]

1. Probably, but

They should have known that data was suspect. There's nothing inherently fatal about a brain injury, if the child receives good medical care. Complications from surgeries to correct muscle contractures, etc. will result in some deaths, but many of these children will live a normal lifespan. I should know - I'm one of them, and I'm 31.

Programs like this cannot cover all the expenses associated with having a disabled child. For example, the article was negative about the fact that some of these families used the funds to purchase a house. Obviously, the author and/or the persons reviewing the program parameters have no idea how difficult it is to find a wheelchair-accessible home. You either have to build one from scratch or spend a fortune on renovations. Accessible apartments are just as impossible. I wonder, too, if this program covers the cost of a specially equipped vehicle. A new minivan with ramp system will run you about 60K. If the child grows up and has the capacity to drive, but needs high-tech hand controls, that cost goes up to 100K. How about personal care assistants? That'll cost $400 to $1000 a week depending on how many hours, pay, etc. What about lost wages if Mom or Dad has to quit their job to care for the child?

I was born in Florida before this program was available - hell, I'm probably part of the reason WHY it became available. Thankfully, my parents sued the negligent doctors, who settled out of court in mid-trial. The money was placed in a trust for me, which was managed by a court-approved third party. In order to be reimbursed from the trust, my parents had to justify each expense to the administrator, and how it related to my health and well-being. But if I needed it, I got it, without my parents having to fight the government or pray that there will still be funds next year. When I turned 18, the money became mine to access freely.

I don't know what if anything was said about my life expectancy in the lawsuit. However, the money I received may not last me a lifetime. It is not the tens of millions you hear about today. It has been wisely invested, but with the stock market being what it is, there is always risk. I benefited from the CA real estate boom and was able to trade up to a nice house, but with the $ I had to spend on renovations and the subsequent housing bust, my house is probably worth the same or less than my pre-renovation cost. The market will come back up, since people will always want to live in SoCal, but it will take a few years. I need more help than I used to, and my partner does too as she has a chronic health condition - so we spend thousands on personal assistants. And of course, no amount of money will make up for the fact that I'm disabled for life because a doctor was more concerned about his golf game than getting to the hospital to help a mother in labor, and the other doctors and nurses tried to cover up his errors.

I would never sign up for a program like this. It is much too risky. I will also never sign those arbitration agreements that doctors try to push on you nowadays. I know firsthand the cost of negligence. Yes, there are frivolous suits out there, but for every frivolous one there are many victims who are too uneducated, afraid, or overwhelmed to seek justice. My mother met them over the years - parents who knew that the doctors screwed up, but the hospital covered it up too well, or the parents didn't have the energy to fight because their child's needs were so all-consuming.

IMO the best way to end malpractice is to put some of the costs directly onto doctors instead of insurance covering it all. Doctors will be more careful, because it'll be their mansion and Mercedes on the line. But at the same time, they'll have more incentive to fight false and frivolous claims instead of throwing money at anyone who files a suit. Also, if a doctor is found guilty of malpractice under this standard, s/he should have their license put on probation, and the details of the lawsuit should be freely available in an online database. If it happens again, their license should be revoked. The doctor that harmed me and my mother was able to continue practicing, with his patients completely unaware of his offense. Hopefully he rearranged his priorities, but what if he didn't? How many other families did he hurt? We'll never know.