Revisions to the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule that went into effect on the 1st of June, 2016 will change the way in which auto insurance covers attendant care. This benefit will be eliminated for accident victims if their injuries are not classified as being catastrophic. For these individuals, the most significant change is financial as these were paid from a fund that was separated from those that covered medical expenses and rehabilitative care.
As of the date these revisions went into effect, they will all be paid from the same fund. Currently, the maximum benefit amount stands at $36,000 in cases where an individual has sustained non-catastrophic injuries. Once these revisions go into effect, the funding will be reduced. Consequently, the attendant care benefit limit will be shared with the medical and rehabilitative care benefit limit. Essentially, attendant care will now be in direct competition with other types of therapy. Consequently, those individuals in these circumstances could benefit from retaining a personal injury lawyer team in Lindsay.
So what does this mean? Basically, this places an added burden on a case system where individuals who have sustained non-catastrophic injuries will run out of attendant coverage despite their injuries being serious enough to warrant surgery or other care. For those injuries that are classified as catastrophic, those benefits along with the aforementioned ones will create considerable problems for individuals who have not sustained catastrophic injuries. This can be worrisome situation for many invalids.
The attendant care benefit is currently $1 million but as of June 1st, it will be sharing that benefit with medical and rehabilitative care. Given the severity of catastrophic injuries, attendant care is going to take a back seat to surgical procedures and other therapies. It goes without saying that $1 million will not cover attendant care for rest of your life if you have suffered catastrophic injuries and need ongoing medical attention. So how can it possibly cover that ongoing medical and rehabilitative care as well?
Ironically at first glance, it appeared that the extension of time (from 2 years to 5) that was allowed for collecting attendant benefits was very positive in and of itself. But the maximum limit amount did not increase in corresponding fashion. Statistics already had shown how attendant care benefits were running out for patients who had sustained non-catastrophic injuries. So the question that personal injury lawyer teams in Lindsay were asking was “how did increasing the time limit benefit these injury victims?”
The bottom line is that these SABS revisions are going to cause additional problems for injury victims who need these attendant care benefits. Furthermore, doctors and other healthcare providers will be hard-pressed to provide higher-quality medical care when there aren’t enough funds to pay for it.
If you have been injured and require legal assistance, it helps to work with experienced lawyers that have handled similar cases before.