Sustaining a spinal cord injury is not only overwhelming and even devastating; sustaining a spinal cord injury is expensive. People with spinal cord injuries often incur many more costs of living than people without spinal cord injuries, including medical costs, home modification costs, and lost wages due to an ability to work. The cost of living with a spinal cord injury only rises throughout time, and many worry about the financial instability that a spinal cord injury can cause.
Luckily, there are many different resources people with spinal cord injuries can utilize in order to pay their expenses. Read below to learn more about the common expenses people with spinal cord injuries face, along with the different ways you can pay your bills after sustaining an SCI.
Common Medical Costs After an SCI
With a new spinal cord injury comes a variety of new expenses. There are three main types of expenses people with SCI incur: medical bills, home modification costs, and lost wages from work. Medical bills are by far the most expensive costs that people with spinal cord injuries face. Medical bills can include costs of hospital stays, medications, surgeries, procedures, physical rehabilitation, in-home aids, and mobility assistance devices. Depending on your level and severity of spinal cord injury, medical costs can range from tens of thousands of dollars to over a million dollars in your first year post-injury.
How to Pay for Your Spinal Cord Injury Costs
As you can see, spinal cord injuries can be incredibly expensive. Luckily, there are four main avenues to paying your SCI expenses: a successful personal injury lawsuit, insurance, crowdsourcing, and grants and organizations. First, a successful personal injury lawsuit can help you recover a large sum of money so you can pay your bills. If another party was at fault for your paralysis, you may be able to file a lawsuit for your injuries. To file a personal injury lawsuit, you must first find and hire an experienced spinal cord injury law team. Your legal team will help collect the necessary evidence for your case, including medical records, pictures of the accident or injuries, and witness statements. Your legal team will then develop a well-rounded argument for your case and prove that another party was at fault for your injuries. Financial compensation from a successful spinal cord injury lawsuit can include money for your medical bills, lost wages, and for your pain and suffering. Often, a successful personal injury lawsuit is the best way to receive the most money possible to help you pay your expenses. In order to maximize your chances of winning your personal injury lawsuit, make sure to talk to a legal team as soon as possible after your injury.
Insurance can also help you cover the costs of your spinal cord injury. Typically, insurance companies only pay a certain portion of one’s medical bills. The amount your insurance will cover depends on the insurance plan you have. Insurance companies only cover the medical procedures that they deem “medically necessary”, meaning they may cover a surgery of yours, but not the costs of your physical rehabilitation. If you do not have insurance at the time of your injury, don’t fret; you can still apply for insurance after your injury because insurance companies can’t discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. If a particular medical treatment is not covered by your insurance company, an insurance lawyer may be able to help you appeal your insurance’s decision and advocate for full coverage. An important thing to keep in mind is that, with insurance, you will still be paying a sum of money out-of-pocket due to common insurance payments like deductibles and copays.
A third way to pay for your medical bills is through crowdsourced fundraising. Websites like GoFundMe have become more popular over recent years. Anyone has the power to start a crowdsourced fundraising campaign online; online crowdsourced fundraising campaigns give friends, family members, and strangers alike the opportunity to donate to your cause. Thousands of people’s medical bills have been fully paid through crowdsourcing campaigns, thanks to the generosity of the people who donate. Sometimes, a crowdsourced fundraising campaign goes viral online, leading many strangers to donate money to help someone cover their medical bills. Remember, if you start a fundraising campaign on a crowdsourcing website, make sure to read the website’s terms and conditions.
Lastly, there are many grants that are offered by charities, the federal government, and other service organizations for people who are experienced financial instability. There are specific grants available across the country for people with disabilities and people with high medical expenses. Additionally, many organizations and charities across the nation hold fundraising events for those who need help covering their medical bills. Make sure to research the relevant grants and organizations in your area if you are interested in seeking financial assistance.
Contact Us Today!
As a team of people with spinal cord injuries, we know of many awesome resources across the country that can help people with spinal cord injuries make ends meet. We know just how expensive spinal cord injuries can be, and we are here to help. If you are struggling to pay your medical bills, contact us today at team@spinalpedia.com or through the form provided on this page, and we can help connect you to the proper resources. You do not have to do this alone!
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