Consider the Average and Unexpected Costs of Your SCI

Spinal cord injuries represent some of the most impacting catastrophic injuries you might sustain. They are a risk in vehicular accidents, falls and even medical or surgical mistakes. Once you have an SCI, it may be a permanent injury to grapple with or, at the very least, a long recovery.

Understanding the costs and complications of an SCI may help you secure the compensation you need and help ease the financial pressure that accompanies these injuries.

Healthcare Costs and Living Expenses of SCIs

As the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center details, severity plays a big part in how much SCIs tend to cost. The NSCISC estimates that the first-year costs of an SCI where you lose motor function at any level average around $375,196. Subsequent years average around $45,572.

The most catastrophic result—high tetraplegia— averages around $1.14 million in the first year and $199,637 in subsequent years.

Other Complications

These costs take healthcare and living expenses into account, but they do not factor for indirect costs like losses in wages or productivity. Other physical complications may exacerbate the financial costs. A spinal cord injury may affect many other systems outside the central nervous system such as your respiratory or circulatory system. You may also lose partial or complete control of your bladder and bowels.

All this requires a certain amount of medical treatment and lifestyle change. This may involve months of rehabilitation or nursing care around the clock. Regardless of what you need, there are resources to help you fight for compensation and financial security to help you move through recovery and forward into your new future.