A Gap in Treatment for Those Suffering from Brain Injury

Many people suffering from traumatic brain injuries require intensive rehabilitation and care.  Unfortunately, most Americans cannot afford state-of-the-art rehabilitation centers.  Medicare, Medicaid, and most insurance companies will cover the costs of the brain surgery and intensive care required to save the patient's life.  However, most insurers shortchange the benefits for rehab programs and brain injury "boot camps" that teach patients to relearn skills and abilities that are destroyed after a traumatic brain injury.  These types of services can cost anywhere from $600 to $8,000 a day depending on the services according to Susan Conners, President of the Brain Injury Association of America.

This lack of coverage means that thousands of brain injury patients are discharged each year from hospitals and are left to languish in bed during those critical early months when the brain is most receptive to healing; this according to the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.  At least two-thirds of patients that are discharged from rehabilitation hospitals get no further care after the typical 16-day treatment.  Based on research, patients without intensive therapy may never regain full use of their limbs, their ability to use language, their emotional balance, or their power to think clearly.

The only state in the United States that requires major insurers to cover comprehensive brain-injury rehabilitation is Texas.  Sadly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1.7 million people suffer brain trauma each year in the U.S.  Most of these cases are from motor vehicle accidents, strokes, assaults, falls, gunshot wounds, and sports related accidents. 

The problem is that while most private insurers say they offer coverage, the coverage varies drastically.  It's a matter of reading the fine print and understanding what the coverage limits are; making sure your insurance company does not exclude cognitive therapy or see brain injury therapy as an "experimental" treatment. 

With millions of Americans suffering from brain injuries, the help is out there.  Unfortunately, sometimes it can be difficult and costly to find.

If you are in need of a Myrtle Beach SC traumatic brain injury attorney, Conway lawyer Dirk Derrick at the The Derrick Law Firm has been handling traumatic brain injury cases in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Conway SC for over 23 years. Please call 843-248-7486 today.