As you may know, my delightful sister-in-law, Kristine Hanna Lomax had a skiing accident this past January. Kristine suffered a severe traumatic brain injury that drastically changed her life forever. Prior to her accident, Kristine enjoyed a distinguished career and dynamic social life. She is now severely challenged with speech, language and memory deficits due to the extent of her injuries. Kristine needs a full time caregiver and for her own safety, around-the-clock supervision. She will require lifelong medical care and rehabilitation that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Kristine has temporarily relocated to Bakersfield, California to participate in an inpatient therapy program specially designed for individuals with traumatic brain injuries. Kristine is determined to improve, and is working very hard around-the-clock to re-learn skills required for moving back home.

Even with health insurance, Kristine is facing mounting out-of-pocket expenses related to her injuries. She requires continued rehabilitation, and her health insurance has limited inpatient coverage of 100 days. Kristine has exhausted this benefit, and she is now responsible for the full cost of therapy on her own. She is also facing caregiver fees, and will need extensive home health care, continued outpatient rehabilitation therapy, and possible home modifications once she is able to come home. Now that Kristine is no longer employed, she has depleted her savings and is required to pay the COBRA premium to continue with insurance coverage.