Hello Folks. I’m back on my blog. YAY!!! While I visit often, I have lots to share with you all, and have much medical information, numerous discoveries, and lots of additions to add to this site over the next several weeks. Now however, I am in a position to express my own personal views candidly and without fear of reprisal about something I have been wanting to for quite some time.

It has been a while since I have posted in my blog here. I wanted to explain that in addition to focusing on my rehabilitation goals, I was also embroiled in a fight for my life with the insurance company representing me in my Michigan NO FAULT claim.

I had sued them for numerous items of service they were not paying on time/stopped paying under the laws that are supposed to, in theory, mandate and compel them to act in a judicious and timely fashion by the letter of those laws.

I, like so many other NO FAULT recipients, suffered additional and repeated traumas at the hands and manipulation of the Insurance Company(ies) that are supposed to be handling the various aspects of our NO FAULT claims. Instead, bills that they are supposed to pay in full, within 30 days of the bill being submitted to them (according to law); attendant care established through a prescription of a licensed physician ( for home health care, nursing care etc) provided by an agency or family member; medical mileage/travel supposed to be reimbursed after it has been incurred; replacement services (household services), wage loss, and other benefits afforded by Michigan law – they ignore &/or pay at their whim…not based on the actual laws. These laws are great on paper, for the constituents, yet there is no accountability for the Insurance companies to be mandated to actually follow the law on paper.

Did you know that the law States that the insurance companies can be charged “Interest” on any bill that is not paid within the 30 day time frame that it is submitted to the insurance company.

Again, this sounds good on paper, right? WRONG! Apparently the manipulation of that law is wholly accepted throughout the whole NO FAULT process as there are currently not any laws in place detailing when or how those interest payments must be paid AND making them non-negotiable items, or compelling them to actually be something the insurance company(ies) wish to avoid, because they would be required to pay that interest. It does not eliminate them from being negotiated away. They can only be charged this “interest” if you acquire an attorney, sue them, AND actually go through a trial where they can still negotiate out of that responsibility. The majority of cases go through a settlement procedure (like mine) and apparently that eliminates all possibility of them every having to pay interest on anything, that by law, they owe the interest on. This abhorrent process is just one of the many things that needs to be reformed in our NO FAULT system. Bottom line….if you don’t pay your bills within 30 days of receipt of that bill, you WILL incur interest for each day that is delayed. That interest should NOT be allowed to be negotiated away in Settlements, Trials, or other modalities regarding the NO FAULT process. This is a willful and purposeful choice they make, knowing there are no consequences. Holding them accountable, will, in theory, allow the NO FAULT system to do what it is supposed to do, take the burden off the individual who was actually in the wreck, so they can focus on their recovery. This would also take the burden off of the Courts being tied up in months or years of the back and forth legal ping pong that these Insurance Companies can afford to play. Reform should be attempting to compel the Insurance Company(ies) to do their jobs …..with our money.

The NO FAULT system through and through is a progressive, positive and integral part of our infrastructure in this State, absolutely worth saving and investing time and money in. It is a system to be envied by all other States and a model worth replicating. However, it is a system that needs transparency across the board, and accountability across the board as well though. After all, fraud and spuriousness is often propagated by the Insurance Company and their agent(s) themselves.

NO FAULT does require reform and clearer lines of accountability for all involved, but specifically the Insurance Providers themselves (obviously I feel this cannot be expressed enough). The very leviathan presence of these companies who with impudent disregard for the Courts, Judges, constituents, and laws voted on and enacted by the constituents (voting citizens) – often find themselves escaping their financial responsibilities, shirking the due diligence required of them, and using subterfuge and prevarication, knowing there is nothing to hold them accountable. Nothing at all. In my opinion, this is the grossest form of medical negligence, injustice, and sheer despicability.

That all being said, I have come to the end of this particular chapter of this grueling process through a Settlement process that was to say the least….less than desirable. Since the wreck I have literally fought for each breath, each step, each grip, each movement, each thought; each valuable, talented, progressive, and proficient providers; each benefit afforded to me by law, each opportunity to improve and have a decent quality of life. While not easy, while not always positive…absolutely necessary to survive.

I have endured countless days, weeks, months…and now years of acute/chronic pain, loss of body integrity, loss of social confidence, ongoing medical crises, and a complete change in my life, the way I live and relate to others and even relate to myself.

I have been made aware, through my personal experiences, of the dark side of the medical establishment that includes some incompetent colluding providers “in white coats and black hats (figuratively speaking)”, inaccurate medical documentation, missed/delayed labs, missed/delayed surgeries, missed injuries, delayed treatment,missed radiology exams, and the desperately fallible humanness of those we should be able to trust implicitly with our lives.

Despite all of this though….I have learned to advocate for myself on a different level. I have learned I AM a voice for those who are not able to be one for themselves. I have learned that we as a medical society are only just starting to learn about the miraculous processes that make us who we are.

I have learned who my true friends are or aren’t. I have learned that there is always a reason to HOPE and to never give up. I have learned that FAITH and LOVE really does prevail over darkness and injustice.

I have learned that every bit of essence that this blessing of a life has given me by the miraculous opportunity I have been given to survive is something to be protected and coveted. I have learned that sometimes being an honest, honorable, and sincere individual is sometimes just not enough. I have learned that discrimination comes in forms we don’t even talk about as a society. I have learned that I can endure more pain than I would have ever thought possible. I have learned that my life matters and I can find value in the person I am now. I am still learning how I can make a difference in this world and be a catalyst for positive changes and not compromise the core of who I am.

Finding the path to recovery is not just a journey….it is a pilgrimage. I will survive, despite continually traversing all of this Legal Monstrosity.