Posted on 10/23/2011 1:40:53 PM PDT by Cardhu
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — By all accounts, Mark Lindquist is a hero, an underpaid social worker who nearly gave his life trying to save three developmentally disabled adults from the Joplin tornado. Both houses of the Missouri legislature honored Lindquist, the Senate resolution calling him "a true hero and inspiration to others."
But heroism doesn't pay the bills. The tornado's 200 mph winds tossed Lindquist nearly a block, broke every rib, obliterated his shoulder, knocked out most of his teeth and put him in a coma for about two months.
Lindquist, 51, ran up medical expenses that exceed $2.5 million, and the bills keep coming. He requires 11 daily prescriptions and will need more surgery.
But he has no medical insurance. Lindquist couldn't afford it on a job paying barely above minimum wage. He assumed workers' compensation would cover his bills, but his claim was denied "based on the fact that there was no greater risk than the general public at the time you were involved in the Joplin tornado," according to a letter to Lindquist from Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, his company's workers' comp provider.
That reasoning has angered Lindquist's family, employer, even lawmakers.
"I think they need to take another look at the circumstances and revisit the claim," state Rep. Bill Lant, R-Joplin, said. "What he did went beyond heroics."
Lindquist watched the skies darken on the evening of May 22 while on his way to the group home occupied by Mark Farmer, Rick Fox and Tripp Miller, three middle-aged men with Down syndrome. Soon after he arrived, a tornado siren began to blare.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
His medical insurance, if he had it, would deny the claim.
It happened on the job, while he was doing his job, at a task he was trained to take action on.
Pay up.
Funny. I was just thinking the same thing. This guy goes the hero route. Gets kicked in the ass. Meanwhile, that psycho "adult baby" gets to stay on SSI. Weird world.
The thing that gets me is... $2.5 MILLION dollars??? Yeah, I get it, the guy was busted up, but did he get a bionic limb as part of his treatment?
Took 23 posts to get to the heart of the matter. The hospital and doctors are running up the tab thinking that since he was on the job the company would pay.
I bet all the forms he filled out asked if he was on the job and, of course, he answered "yes".
They thought they could cover a lot of uninsured patients' debt by padding this tab.
I suppose the question will be how the state courts have interpreted the word ‘accident’. The state code is here http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C200-299/2870000120.HTM. Just because the injury occurs on the job, it may not be covered. If you have a heart attack at work, it may not be covered by workers comp since you probably would have had the heart attack even if you were not at work.
I never said they’d pay enough to cover his bills. Common limits here are $1,000,000.00 per occurrence with general liability required to cover any medical overage. Indemnity and disability are by formula, so I cannot speak to that.
$250,000? Used to be is right.
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