I’m Tony Baratta. In the past, I’ve talked to you about how vital treatment is for your brain injury. Do you know that an average hospital stay for a brain injured victim could be as much as nine days and that the person may need extensive inpatient rehabilitation as well as lengthy outpatient rehabilitation after that?
How to pay for TBI treatment
So how does one pay for all that? Today, I’d like to talk to you about that issue. There are many sources of potential payment for treatment of brain injury. If you are injured due to a wreck on our roadways, the first source that you would look to is your auto insurance.
Your own insurance
It’s very important that you examine your own auto insurance and buy as much medical coverage as you can. When involved in a motor vehicle accident, the law says that the insurance coverage that you’ve purchased under medical in your car insurance pays first. Then, once that’s exhausted or paid out completely, you have to look to your own health insurance.
Now, as you know, health insurance plans are different. Not all are the same. Some limit the amount of treatment that you can get. And some people, unfortunately, don’t have health insurance. So what are the other potential sources that you have to pay for treatment that you need for your brain injury? I’m going to talk to you about three of them.
Medicaid
The first is Medicaid, which is a state and federal program. It’s limited to those persons who have limited income and assets. And the limit is about $2,000 in assets for an individual to receive Medicaid.
Medicare
There’s also the Medicare program, which is a federal program, and that’s for persons who are over 65 or disabled persons. Disabled persons become qualified to receive Medicare after two years from the date of their disability.
Head Injury Program
In Pennsylvania, there is also a program called the Head Injury Program. It’s run by the Department of Health. And this is a program that if you meet certain financial requirements, you can receive up to 12 months of rehabilitation therapy, and up to $100,000 in treatment.
Pennsylvania Brain Injury Association
There is another resource that all Pennsylvanians who are brain injured should know, and that is the Pennsylvania Brain Injury Association. And they have a resource line. Here’s the telephone number that anyone with a brain injury in Pennsylvania can call to get vital information. It is 800-444-6443. That’s the Pennsylvania Brain Injury Association for vital resources. My name is Tony Baratta, and I hope this has been helpful.
