Life after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in Austin can be extremely expensive. The medical care alone for treating a brain injury can cost millions of dollars over a victim’s lifetime – especially in cases of moderate to severe brain injuries with permanent repercussions.
It is critical to have the information you need to accurately calculate the future medical costs associated with your TBI. An Austin personal injury attorney can help educate you on the future medical expenses and financial burdens of your brain injury so that your family does not encounter any unexpected costs.
Identifying the costs associated with medical care following a TBI can enable your lawyer to seek fair and full financial compensation for you during the legal process. Schedule a no-cost, no-pressure initial meeting at FVF Law Firm for more information about your specific case.
Future Medical Care
Medical care is a large portion of the cost of living with a traumatic brain injury in Austin. Calculating future medical costs takes crafting a tailored Life Care Plan. This can be done with assistance from a Certified Life Care Planner. These individuals typically charge around $80 to $150 per hour, with costs increasing for more comprehensive cases or hired experts.
Certified Life Care Planners evaluate the future needs of individuals with severe injuries or permanent disabilities, including traumatic brain injuries and spinal cord injuries. They craft an individualized plan for the patient’s future medical treatments. Then, they project the costs of future needs and care based on the individual’s health status, insurance, available resources and inflation.
Medical costs can be substantial for a patient with a traumatic brain injury. Surgeries, ongoing therapies or rehabilitation, hospitalizations, and long-term care can cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands of dollars to over $3 million for severe brain injury cases. An evaluation by medical professionals and Life Care Planners can supply valuable information about future costs.
The Cost of Appointments With Specialists
Traumatic brain injuries fall into a highly specialized area of the medical field. There are many specialists who can provide top-tier care and important insights into the TBI patient’s prognosis and treatment options.
The Brain Injury Association of America provides a list of specialists whose expertise may be critical for the recovery of a brain injury survivor. It includes:
- Neurosurgeons
- Neurologists
- Physiatrists
- Orthopedic surgeons
- Neuropsychologists
- Physical therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Speech/language pathologists
- Respiratory therapists
- Pulmonologists
- Social workers or case managers
- Nurses
Experts in nervous system disorders, respiration and lung diseases, behavioral therapy, motor skills, and cognitive deficits may all be called upon to aid in a TBI victim’s recovery. The cost of a specialist can range from around $100 to $500 per session for outpatient care, with higher costs for inpatient care and highly regarded experts.
Prescriptions, In-Home Services and Additional Resources
The future of someone living with a TBI tends to involve various prescription medications and recommended medical devices, as well as ongoing care and services from within the individual’s home. These medical costs can be substantial, especially with severe injuries that require years of ongoing care.
Dealing with the long-term effects of a TBI, which may include cognitive and motor function impairment, can require various disability accommodations. Key medical devices may include wheelchairs and mobility aids, rehabilitation and strengthening devices, memory aids, communication tools, monitoring systems, and safety devices.
In addition, an individual with a severe or catastrophic TBI may need to hire an around-the-clock nursing aid or live-in care for medical reasons. Human support aides can cost thousands of dollars per month. Even if a loved one takes over the caregiving, it can have an impact on the family’s finances.
How Are Brain Injury Settlements Calculated?
Monetary settlements and court judgment awards for brain injury victims are calculated based on the individual circumstances. Rather than using a standardized formula, insurance companies and juries calculate case values by projecting the full financial, physical and emotional impact of a TBI over the victim’s lifetime.
Settlements may include both economic and non-economic damages. Common examples are current and future medical care, lost income, disability, property damage, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. Factors such as permanent injury and the need for future medical care can increase the value of a brain injury settlement.
Economic damages are based on the actual costs associated with a TBI, both now and in the future. Evidence such as bills and receipts are used to calculate these damages. Non-economic damages are more difficult to discern. A common method used is to multiply the victim’s total economic damages by a number between 1.5 and 5 (based on injury severity). An attorney can provide an accurate case value based on the circumstances.
How a Brain Injury Attorney in Austin Can Help
The cost of future medical care for an individual living with a traumatic brain injury is highly variable. The value depends on the severity of the brain injury, the victim’s recovery prognosis, age at the time of injury, insurance available and many other factors. It is prudent for a TBI victim to speak with a personal injury attorney in the early stages of recovery so that he or she may be connected with the right specialists and medical services.
An Austin brain injury attorney can accurately evaluate the medical costs that will be associated with the TBI for the duration of the victim’s life. An attorney has special resources and connections to experts who can make it possible to accurately calculate future medical costs and other TBI-related expenses.
For a TBI victim’s family, struggling under the financial strain of the injury is connected to a feeling of loyalty to the victim and hope for future recovery. This can drive a family to seek the best possible care at any expense. Seeking help from an attorney who has the individual and family’s best interests in mind can make it easier to find options for limiting, offsetting or decreasing related medical expenses and other financial burdens.
Get Help Today – Contact FVF Law Firm to Discuss Your Options
For assistance calculating the future medical costs associated with a traumatic brain injury – and to get legal advice on how to maximize a settlement or judgment award for your family’s struggles – contact FVF Law Firm at (512) 640-2146 for a pressure-free case review in Austin, Texas. We will bring more than 100 years of combined legal experience to your TBI case.
