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had very good health insurance through their local Blue
Cross/Blue Shield. It was paying for almost all of Kimberly’s
extraordinary medical expenses, and it had no lifetime cap, but
the policy would continue only as long as either Clyde or Theresa
remained employed by the State. They recognized that they might
lose their coverage--by having to leave their jobs at the prison,
by the State’s choosing to switch insurers, or by the insurer’s
changing the terms of the policy. More haunting was the
possibility that one or both of them might not survive their
daughter--Clyde in particular was of an age and had physical
problems of his own that made that fear reasonable. So the
Hickses were rightly worried about all the future costs of caring
for a very disabled child.
These worries made it very important that Kimberly be in a
position to qualify for Medicaid when she became an adult or if
the Hickses lost their insurance. Qualifying for Medicaid would
mean that Kimberly would get the care she needed, but Medicaid is
a program designed for the poor and its eligibility rules would
force her to spend down any damages she won. And, though
Medicaid provides adequate care, the Hickses reasonably thought
it would be less than perfect in meeting Kimberly’s special
needs.
The Hickses’ ability to solve these problems and allay their
worries was very uncertain. Conrail disputed its liability,
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Last modified: November 10, 2007