Guardian for Brain Injury Survivors
One of the first thing a brain injury attorney do is to talk to you a need for a legal guardian for brain injury. There is a need to have someone appointed to be the legal representative or a brain injury guardian of the injured person. A guardianship does give this guardian for brain injury will have the the ability to intervene, to open up more avenues for care. While your loved one is in the hospital and in a coma this may not be as urgent but as soon as they begin to wake up, the hospital is now involved in a process where they would like to reduce the amount of care and transfer them to a place where may or may not be appropriate for them. In our opinion, nursing homes are not appropriate for anyone with a brain injury including someone who is a coma. If you get a professional case manager involved there will be a professional advocate on your side and they will probably have more influence with the insurance companies, more influence with the hospital to make sure that the cost of cutting back on the cost of their care is not more important than your loved one getting better. Without a conservator or guardian for brain injury (different terms in different states) the severely brain injured survivor probably cannot even hire a lawyer to pursue a personal injury matter.
But there are additional advantages of an early guardianship, especially if a corporate guardianship firm is involved that can arrange for a case manager. A case manager is a great advantage if someone with experience with severe brain injury is used. An experienced advocate to guide the family in making decisions and placements, may make a tremendous difference in getting access to care, particularly with those eligible for medicaid.
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