Spokane7
50°
June 16, 2011 in City
Injured war contractor approved for treatment
Jennifer Barcklay salutes the flag before retiring it for the evening at her rural Spokane County home on June 8.
(Full-size photo)
A Spokane-area woman who was injured by an enemy mortar explosion while working as a helicopter mechanic in Afghanistan has received approval from a government-contracted insurance company to receive the treatment her doctors say she needs.
Jennifer Barcklay, 40, of Chattaroy, was been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury after the September 2009 attack at a forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan, where she was employed by Blackwater, the private defense security contractor now known as Xe Services.
On Wednesday, she was told that Chartis WorldSource, the giant insurance company once known as American International Group, AIG, would cover the cognitive rehabilitation therapy recommended by eight medical providers in Spokane.
“This is bittersweet,” Barcklay said. “I’m hoping it’s not too late.”
It has been more than a year since Barcklay’s providers first began recommending comprehensive cognitive rehabilitation, which is more effective the sooner it is begun. It is not offered locally.
She continues to endure seizures, memory loss, headaches, tremors and problems with her balance that prevent her from returning to work.
“Frankly, I am appalled at how many obstacles have been placed in the way of her receiving the treatment she needs,” Spokane neuropsychologist Winifred Daisley wrote the insurer on Barcklay’s behalf.
A nurse contracted by Chartis to manage Barcklay’s case was unexpectedly terminated in October after notifying the insurer that her patient was approved for treatment at the Centre for Neuro Skills in Bakersfield, Calif.
Under the Defense Base Act of 1941, defense contractors must provide medical and disability insurance for their workers in war zones. The premiums are included in the companies’ contract with the Department of Defense.
There were nearly 56,000 such claims for injuries or deaths from the start of the Iraq war to 2009. That year, a congressional investigation found that insurance companies have been slow to approve claims for injuries despite receiving millions in premiums from the federal government.
Another World War II-era law, the War Hazards Compensation Act, reimburses the employer or insurer for injuries or death to a worker caused by an act of war. The insurer is reimbursed by the taxpayers for 100 percent of the claim, plus 15 percent for administrative costs.
Chartis’s approval of Barcklay’s treatment followed a letter from the U.S. Department of Labor, recommending that she be allowed to go to the Centre for Neuro Skills.
The letter also was critical of an independent review of Barcklay’s medical records by a Chartis-contracted neuropsychiatrist in Rhode Island who appeared to diagnose the patient’s condition as psychological rather than physiological without examining her.
Rights panel poorly understood 
Providing_Buttonholes on June 16 at 3:41 p.m.
Imagine what a bit of negative publicity will do… We still dont know why Cathy, Patty and Maria sat on the sidelines on this one, like all the rest….
greenlibertarian on June 16 at 3:50 p.m.
Good to hear it. One wonders how many others there are that are being denied treatment by unscrupulous insurance companies, or this one, former AIG, that the taxpayers bailed out.
eagleproducer on June 16 at 4:36 p.m.
Read the story in this link to discover the conditions contracted DOD workers endure helping fight this misbegotten war on terror.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/06/06/110606fa_fact_stillman
misjustice on June 16 at 5:40 p.m.
I am glad to learn that Jennifer will get access to the treatment that she needs.
I am not surprised that AIG (or whatever it is that they are calling themselves these days) delayed and initially denied her claim. I am certain that it just another day at the office for the claims adjusters/insurance company and that it is company policy to deny treatments.
west on June 16 at 6:26 p.m.
VA won’t cover this veteran?
eagleproducer on June 16 at 6:57 p.m.
The VA will cover veterans, but there is means testing and we are usually turned away if we have private insurance. In addition, there is a law on the books (referenced in the article) that states private citizens/contractors are covered for injuries received on U.S. bases but the process is labyrinthine and many are unaware of these types of claims. That was not an issue here, it was an issue of allowing private companies to ration health care and make decisions that impact the health of policy holders. They have legions of adjusters whose only function is the develop rationales for non-payment of covered services. The adjusters and the manner in which insurance companies operate account for much higher costs than single payer plans in nations with universal health care.
That practice is one of the largest drivers of health care inflation and dramatically outpaces the “tort reform” bleated by the GOP as a reason health insurance costs skyrocketing.
Mitt Romney is going to take a beating in the primaries for “Romney-care.” The plan in Mass includes a mandate, one that was included at the request of conservatives and originated in GOP congressional legislation from the early 1990’s. That’s right, folks, the mandate that has so many Tea Baggers up in arms is/was their party’s idea originally. At the time (1993) that it was being discussed, the GOP stated they proposed a mandate because it is a way of showing personal/financial responsibility akin to car owners. They felt the uninsured should have to carry health insurance because not doing so spread the cost of their negligence to those who were responsible. They wanted to rid the system of free riders. Mandates now, according to the GOP, are unconstitutional intrusions into the private decisions of citizens, personal responsibility be damned. That is the “progress” we’ve enjoyed from conservatives in regards to health care in the U.S. You have every right to get traumatic brain injuries requiring lifelong care and expect others to pay for it. Go ahead and have a gaggle of brats, we’ll cover that and them too! They are actually endorsing dependency rather than personal responsibility. What is wrong with mandating that people take responsibility for their health care costs? If you can’t afford to, what is wrong with helping people like that? It will end up costing all of us WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY less money in the long run.
hawken on June 16 at 7:24 p.m.
As I said yesterday, bad press is not good for the bottom line.
Giving her the benefits is much cheaper, even if she wasn’t covered according to the policy, than the bad press.
woamike on June 16 at 7:49 p.m.
@EP,
“The VA will cover veterans, but there is means testing and we are usually turned away if we have private insurance”.
So, you’re a Vet? What service and how many years?
USVetVoter on June 16 at 8:30 p.m.
The woman was injured and has been dignosed with a Traumatic Brain Injury from a mortar explosion. This injury is covered by the Defense Base Act and since it was a “war-risk hazard” as covered by the War Hazard Compensation Act of 1942 the insurance company will be reimberssed 100% or more for all the treatments. This lady has the right to the treatment ordered by all of her doctors that were hired by AIG/Chartis Worldsource. Once a doctor recommends a treatment it is supposed to be covered by the private insurance comany. The denial or delay of the claims for defense contractors only increases the profits for these injuries due to the WHCA nature of the claim.
She is a vet, but not with a service connected TBI, the way the VA works is that you have to have a service connected injury to be treated, she has a service connected knee injury. most likey with 0% disability rating and that only allows treatment for the knee injury. It is the private insurance comany’s legal obligation to treat the injury incurred on a military base, especially if over 8 doctors all came to the same conclusion, over a year ago.
I again encourage people to refer to the June 16, 2009 hearing and T. Christian Millers series on Pro-Publica to educate yourselves on the issue of what is happening to these injured contractors and the fact the US Taxpayer is getting spanked not once for the cost of the defense contract, but on these percentages of WHCA claims the reimbersment issue for all “war incurred injury or deaths”
If the treatment would have been allowed last year, this lady may already be back to work, but has had to suffer needlessly for profits. Look at Rep Gabrielle Giffords, she is already returning home after aggressive TBI rehabilitation after being violently injured in her line of duty. Also look at Bob Woodruff, also back to work reporting after aggressive TBI rehab. All this lady needs is a chance and I bet she will also be back at work, but has never given the same chance as these celebrity TBI cases.
The press had nothing to do with this decision, the Department of Labor has a long mediation process that just happened to come to head just as this story was printed, and yes there was involvment by Murry on this lady’s behalf that may have played apart inthe decision. I know this woman and I know the newspaper story had nothing to do with the decsion for treatment, it was timing. The DOL mediation has been in the works since February, it just took this long to get a decision out of them.
D Statler on June 16 at 8:43 p.m.
The whole mess started when BLACKWATER / Xe was allowed to represent America abroad. This is just another example of collateral damage caused by these above the law private contractors. Then they allow AIG or whoever they want to call themselves today to decide what numerous doctors at home can perscribe or not. I am sorry that this young lady was working with these crooks instead of the US Military where she belonged. Or furthermore,at home, never exposed to the mess in Afghanistan.We got Ossama.TIME TO COME HOME!
These hired guns are no more than paid mercenaries.Our government has no buisness employing them.
In the event of a real revolution at home. These hired guns will be the ones we will be fighting :^( Time for a cleansing of this terrible policy !
misjustice on June 16 at 8:56 p.m.
@Undooly, you are correct about Xe, and its leader Eric Prince, being the ones which will be deployed in case of an insurrection here…because I highly doubt that our military folks would turn weapons on their own citizens. Mercenaries?, no problem…
@USVetVoter, excellent post.
nitro71 on June 16 at 9:21 p.m.
Like there is a “real” treatment for what she has.. I do think that the insurance that was covering her when she was working in Afghanistan should cover her treatment. Reality is that she is messed up. How do they “treat” you for concusssion injuries? Advil and sleep.
greenlibertarian on June 16 at 11:04 p.m.
Got any EVIDENCE to say the Centre for Neuro Skills doesn’t provide appropriate and useful treatment for brain trauma injuries, FAR beyond Advil and sleep, nitro71?
Yeah, I thought not.
Ignorance abounds.
Quite ugly when it involves the proper treatment of folks trying to serve their country in a professional manner.
Let ‘em eat cake and stew in their own (government caused) juices, eh nitro71? Dopn’t provide any rehab that might get them back to a normal productive citizen?
WWJD?
USVetVoter on June 16 at 11:36 p.m.
Nitro 71, Its called cognitive rehabilitation to repair memory connections from a diffuse axonal brain injury caused by brain swelling, and medications for seizures. That’s how you treat it, it is called neuroplasticity (that means retraining the mind, in case you did not comprehend that word, becasue it did not include Advil)and has been used for countless US troops and millions of TBI, Stroke, anurism and brain tumor surgical patients by the millions. Wake up to the 21st century and maybe do a little reseach on how succussfull the proper treatment for brain injuries are thse days. And getting that treatment has returned thousands of people back to close to 95 percent of their prior functioning, if given the chance. All she needs is that chance, which is covered by the insurance policy from the DBA law of 1941.
Wow such ignorance. This lady was working for Presidential Helicopters, as a helicopter mechanic and did not even carry a weapon of any kind. The services provided by those civilian helicopters were for things like getting mail to the troops, something you would not understand unless you have been over there how important that care package or letter from home is. There is so much you people do not understand about what really goes on over there, and besides the Aviation section was sold off from XE about a year ago, no more ties to B/W or Eric Prince, but the aviation company that was bought are still over there providing air support.
Not all contractors are mercenaries and not all soldiers are patriots.
All this lady wants is the chance at strutured rehab, something that was in the works a year ago and yanked by a different claims adjusor at AIG. If she was in the rehab last year when the doctors 1st referred her, she might be back at work right now. I sight again, Bob Woodruff is back reporting and writing and Rep Gabrielle Giffords is going home both after violent TBI’s. Bob Woodruff was the same kind, a blast injury. There is a chance for her and there is more to concussion treatment than Advil and Sleep. wake up Nitro 71!
bez233 on June 17 at 7:42 a.m.
I too am a vet who is waiting and waiting and waiting for a surgery that may occur eventually but in the mean time I have to deal with the pain and suffering. I have had to trudge through layers and layers of bureaucratic incompetent bs and people who just don’t care or don’t know what they are doing. Spokane’s VA is much better then Seattle’s VA.