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Double Hit

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On Monday, the first day of the legislative session, Gullett said she does plan to introduce a bill in the next two weeks. She tells New Times she can't discuss specifics, because the details haven't been hammered out completely. The lien laws are very complicated, and in order to get the change Jennifer Morse wants, Gullett might have to agree to tweak the law in other places. She does not want to discuss details there, either.

"What happened to Jennifer and her family is a tragedy," Gullett says, adding that, if passed, her bill would eliminate the problem for someone in the Morses' situation. "It would make sure it wouldn't happen to anybody else. That's our intention, to do it that way."

Gullett estimates that hospitals file about $25 million in liens each year. Her bill, which would address settlements made in cases involving underinsured/uninsured policies, would affect $3 million to $5 million of that overall figure.

She says there will be another stakeholders' meeting next week.

Morse has had an obvious impact on the process -- not just by instigating the process as a knowledgeable attorney, but through the sheer power of her family's horror story. It is hard to say if the stakeholders in this process -- most notably, the hospitals -- would have gathered at the table so eagerly, without that element.

Andy Gordon, an attorney who represents the Arizona Hospital and Health Care Association, says he has met with Gullett and Morse and others interested in the process.

"I think we're going to work with Representative Gullett on the bill. She wants to limit the lien rights. . . . We'll probably work with her on that," Gordon says.

JoJene Mills, president of the Arizona Trial Lawyers Association, is a much more eager participant in the law-changing process.

"There needs to be some reform," she says. "We think if a hospital agrees to accept a certain amount of money from an HMO, then that's what they should get. . . . If a person has insurance and the hospital makes a contract with the company to accept payment for the services, then they shouldn't get any more.

"That contract is what should govern."

Jennifer and Jonathan Morse are thrilled with their choice of car seat -- Alexis' Graco booster saved her life, they believe -- but say they'd do a lot of other things differently, if given a second chance. They would not buy underinsured/uninsured auto coverage -- at least, not if the law doesn't change.

As it turned out, they needed that insurance. The woman who hit Jennifer was not insured. Her most serious injury was a smashed lip, and she complained of a few aches and pains. She was driving her Bronco with her left leg that evening, she told police, because she'd injured her right leg in a domestic incident. She had painkillers in her purse. She says she didn't realize the light had turned red. She left the hospital and no one ever saw her again.

Because of the liens, the Morses still haven't seen a penny of the settlement money from their underinsured/uninsured policy, although they certainly could use some cash. Jennifer took six months off work to take care of the kids. Immediate expenses piled up: Michael needed a special bed, a shower chair, rehabilitation equipment, even new clothes that he could put on and take off himself. The kids had constant doctor appointments, and the co-pays added up to more than $100 a week. The Morses had an insurance policy with an 80/20 percent split.

And then there are the future, unforeseen costs. Michael has a brain injury, and while he has made great improvement, his parents don't know what sort of care he'll need as the years go by. Alexis will almost certainly need extensive plastic surgery.

Last week, during a shopping trip to Costco, Jonathan looked down and noticed a shard of glass sticking out of Alexis' cheek. That happens, from time to time. Jonathan was only alarmed, he says, because he worries that one day a piece will fall in her eye. It took so much to save that eye, he recalls.

There will be less money available for care for his kids now, which worries Jonathan Morse. "We did everything as right as we could afford to," he says of his family's health and auto insurance policies. "We were wrong. That money was not ours."

E-mail amy.silverman@newtimes.com, or call 602-229-8443.

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