London MD warns of more auto insurance pain (Maia Bent quoted)

The way injuries to crash victims are assessed is changing, making it more difficult to prove “catastrophic injury,” such as those suffered by quadriplegics, said Dr. Keith Sequeira, who specializes in rehabilitation at Parkwood Institute.

That means fewer victims will get support from insurers to pay for care at home, and they will stay in hospitals at taxpayers’ expense, he said.

“They will change the criteria and it will have a huge impact,” he said. “We will have insurers saying (patients) do not qualify, and they will have to wait in hospital. The transition from hospital to elsewhere will stall.”

“People will fall through the cracks. We told the government when this was happening it will download costs to OHIP,” said Maia Bent, president of the association and a partner in Lerners, a London law firm.

“These people still need help, and if insurance does not pay, who will? It is way more expensive to keep someone in hospital than at home.”