The High Cost of SCI Rehab in Georgia—and How to Include It in Your Claim

A spinal cord injury (SCI) can change everything about a person’s life—how they feel physically, how they feel mentally, what they can do independently, and how their time is spent. There are few injuries more serious and life-changing than a spinal cord injury. While people generally know that this type of injury is expensive, they rarely understand the full financial scope of an SCI.

If you or someone you love has suffered a spinal cord injury because of another person’s negligence, it is likely that rehabilitation is in your future—and you should not have to cover the cost alone. With the help of a spinal cord injury lawyer, you can seek compensation that covers rehabilitation and other care needs. Call Harris Lowry Manton to set up a time to meet with our team now.

What does SCI rehab typically include?

Spinal cord rehabilitative care is tailored to meet the specific needs of an SCI patient. In the immediate aftermath of an accident, the focus is on stabilizing the patient and treating emergent injuries. Once they’re stabilized, the next step is rehabilitation. The goal of rehab is to help a patient live as independently as possible, whether that means making a full recovery and returning to life as they knew it before their accident or adjusting to permanent injuries and accommodating them for the future.

Generally, SCI rehab begins in a specialized facility. These facilities allow a patient to receive hours of personalized care every day. The days, weeks, and months immediately following an accident are the most important part of a patient’s recovery—this is when the nervous system may begin to adapt and rewire itself through a process called neuroplasticity. The patient’s body does this to compensate for deficits caused by the spinal cord injury. It’s important to take advantage of this timeframe by providing a patient with as much rehabilitative care as possible as the process completes.

Some types of rehab that a patient may receive include:

• Physical therapy for improved coordination, strength, and mobility
• Occupational therapy for independence with daily living tasks
• Recreational therapy to learn how to enjoy leisurely activities for maximum quality of life
• Mental health counseling to adjust to life post-accident and address the psychological challenges of a spinal cord injury

Associated costs can add up fast

Rehab care is expensive on its own. Patients receiving intensive inpatient therapy may rack up tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt just learning how to do basic tasks that they could do with ease prior to their accident. However, the costs of rehabilitative care don’t stop there. Related expenses may include:

• Home modifications: Patients may need to make upgrades to their home to navigate it safely and independently. Potential modifications include wheelchair ramp installation, widening doors and hallways, lowering countertops and cabinets to make them wheelchair-accessible, and accessible bathrooms.
• Assistive devices and technology: Depending on a patient’s specific needs, they may require a manual or power wheelchair, transfer lift systems, a specialized bed, voice-activated home features, or communicative devices that allow them to communicate even if they can no longer speak.
• Caregiving expenses: Whether a patient has CNAs and nurses come into their home to provide care or they receive care from family members, this type of care can be incredibly expensive. In some cases, family members may be compensated for caregiving through certain programs or insurance plans, but this often comes at the cost of giving up their own careers. Someone with a severe SCI may need around-the-clock care, which is even more expensive than drop-in care.

Why these costs are ignored or undervalued

It is incredibly common for insurance adjusters to undervalue or overlook the true costs of a spinal cord injury. Adjusters tend to look at the immediate costs of a personal injury and base their estimates for compensation off of those costs alone. This is often because doing so benefits their company; if they only have to consider immediate medical care needs, that can dramatically decrease the cost of a fair settlement.

Accident victims often have a ton of new responsibilities in the aftermath of an accident. Documenting the cost of their medical care and their medical recommendations are not often their top priorities. However, the earlier you begin documenting these expenses, the easier it is for your spinal cord injury lawyer to advocate for you to get fair compensation.

Future care expenses can also be very difficult to anticipate and calculate. Calculating the cost of care in the immediate future is challenging enough, with constantly changing expenses and care recommendations. Looking years or decades into the future brings in even more unknown factors, and insurance companies often don’t even try. If you want any chance at a fair settlement, you must advocate for yourself and your long-term needs.

Finally, even when insurance companies do look at long-term care needs and their cost, they tend to limit their search to what is medically necessary for a patient to survive. They aren’t looking at what it takes for someone to live the fullest life possible and maximize their independence—they just look at what a patient needs to get through each day. This is obviously a grossly unfair assessment of what someone deserves after an accident, and it’s important to push back on these beliefs from the very beginning.

Get legal help involved early—call Harris Lowry Manton

Early legal assistance is crucial when you are hoping for fair compensation for a spinal cord injury. Bringing in a lawyer from the very beginning makes it easier to document losses appropriately, estimate long-term care costs, and prevent insurance companies from driving down the value of your claim. Let’s discuss what comes next and how we can advocate for you in the face of unjust insurance company policies. Call us or reach out online now.