A court decision this week that restores the reimbursements paid to some victims of catastrophic vehicle crash injuries is being celebrated by those patients and home healthcare providers. Sarah Rhein is a nurse care manager with Private Duty Home Healthcare in St. Joseph and tells us the 2019 auto insurance reform law cut the reimbursements paid to those patients for home care paid by auto insurance. That’s not just caused the patients problems, but also providers.
“It has had both a financial and a moral and emotional cost for us,” Rhein said. “The amount of tears that have been shed over this cannot be counted. Our company, just on one case, is over $200,000 in the hole because we chose not to discharge our patient immediately.”
Rhein says she’s had patients who looked at mortgaging their homes, sold assets, and sought help from the courts. She also notes, however, some local patients who went to court to get help and were denied will still have to go back to court to fix the issue.
