Medical Bills in Car Crash Decimate Family Finances

Like millions of other Americans, Kim Patek fell through the cracks of the health-insurance industry.

At the age of 20, she was not covered by her father’s policy, which terminated coverage at age 19.

“I thought she was still under my major league plan, which cost me $8,000 a year,” said Fred Patek, a former shortstop. “And when I asked why I hadn’t been notified that she wasn’t covered under my family insurance while I was still paying for full family coverage, the most consistent answer I got is they don’t have to tell me she’s not covered.”

Although Kim had begun a new job, the waiting period for insurance had not yet passed when she was critically injured in a car accident in July, 1992, and became a respirator-dependent quadriplegic.

So when medical bills for hundreds of thousands of dollars began arriving at the Patek home, the family knew it had to do something. Patek went public.

“You guys, the Kansas City media, are the ones who did it,” he said. “We got a great response. We’ve got great letters. I have a sack of mail, and I’ve kept it.”

Patek, one of the most popular of the Kansas City Royals in the 1970s, said his frequent work for charities probably helped.

No one has a firm estimate on Kim’s medical expenses to date; Patek said the total is more than $1 million. He liquidated everything he could to pay the huge, initial bills and was ready to sell his home if needed.

But the public sent in more than $100,000--the Pateks did not want to say exactly how much--to Kim’s trust fund. The money will cover expenses for a few years, said Bob Harmon, a longtime family friend and treasurer of the trust fund.

Medicaid now pays some of Kim’s expenses; it paid almost nothing the first year, Harmon said. In the last 12 months, the family spent about $55,000 from Kim’s trust fund.

More money could come in from settlement of a lawsuit Kim has filed against Ford Motor Co., Heartland East and four doctors and their practices who were involved in her treatment, claiming product liability and medical malpractice.

The lawsuit, which demands a jury trial, does not seek a specific amount in damages, said Max Foust, Kim’s attorney.

“Under Missouri law, you don’t ask for an amount,” he said.

The lawsuit alleges Ford’s design of the automatic shoulder belt was flawed and that the physicians who gave Kim her initial care failed to take steps that could have lessened the severity of her injuries.

The defendants had no comment on the lawsuit, which is set for trial Aug. 8 in St. Louis Circuit Court, where the case was filed against Ford.