 "Photo: Provided Photo")
As Jessica Cantrell fights to recover from traumatic brain injuries she sustained in a motorcycle accident, her family has been fighting university insurance administrators to pay for her care.
Since the Aug. 23 accident, Cantrell has been in a coma and unable to attend class. In accordance with university policy, her insurance coverage stopped the last day she attended classes.
University insurance administrator Jim Hunsaker confirmed the policy to Cantrell's brother, Jonathan, in an e-mail dated Sept. 15.
"Basically, if you can come back, you're covered," Jonathan Cantrell said. "If a student gets hurt and misses classes, even if they paid the university, they withdraw the student and say their insurance ended."
According to page three of the Student Medical Insurance Plan, coverage ends "on the effective date of withdrawal (the last date of official class attendance) from the University" or "if a student stops attending classes and is subsequently withdrawn by the University."
Hunsaker declined to comment. University spokesman Rod Sievers said he is speaking on behalf of the administrators involved in this decision.
Sievers said interim Chancellor Sam Goldman met with other university administrators Tuesday to discuss reinstating Cantrell, a senior from Galatia studying French and Spanish.
A possible solution could allow Cantrell to use the $250,000 policy if she pays her tuition and fees, Sievers said.
Jonathan Cantrell said his family is willing to pay the semester's tuition and fees if the university will allow her to use her insurance coverage.
"It's worth paying $7,000 for $250,000 of coverage," he said. "After hearing it was possible, I was excited, but her bills are higher than the insurance money."
The medical bills she has already accumulated would probably exhaust the insurance policy of Lawrence Thompson, the driver of the pick-up truck that struck Cantrell on the motorcycle, Jonathan Cantrell said. It could also exhaust the university policy, he said.
"There may be nothing left for her care in the future," he said.
Although Jessica Cantrell served in the Army, her brother said she was denied veterans' healthcare benefits because she was not treated at a military facility.
Sievers said insurance benefits from the university could affect her ability to qualify for Medicaid or other assistance.
"We've learned that there could be other options that would be more in Jessica's best interest," Sievers said. "It could be that they do reinstate her as a student, but it's not a done deal."
Sievers said the administrators would review the wording of the plan to ensure that students such Jessica Cantrell are not left without coverage. He said the current wording was intended to prevent students from enrolling in classes and then dropping them to obtain cheap medical insurance.
As for the current wording, Sievers said students should pay attention to their policy and what it covers.
"It's in the policy," Sievers said. "If students didn't know, they should read their policy."
Jessica Cantrell remains in intensive care at St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis following emergency surgery to remove a portion of her brain and skull, Jonathan Cantrell said.
"By the average person's standards, she is still in a coma," he said.
Brandy Oxford can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 255 or brandy.oxford@siude.com
