Location: New Mexico, Utah, United States / Korea
Sorry for the length of this post. I am a complete idiot about these matters, so I welcome any advice you can offer!
I am a 50-year-old American citizen, married to a Korean woman, and we live in Korea.
In 2024, while visiting my family in the U.S. a drunk driver veered into my lane on a state highway (in Utah) and struck my vehicle head-on. My vehicle was destroyed and I was flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital comatose, and in critical condition.
I did not have (American) medical insurance. I had just bought the car ($1000) one day before the accident, and I was driving from WA state to NM when it happened. I had the minimum car insurance (liability) required by law.
My family applied (on my behalf) for Medicaid in New Mexico. While Medicaid would have covered the medical treatment I received, because the hospital was more than 150 miles from the NM border, it did not.
After awakening from the month-long coma, I was transferred to a rehab hospital in NM. Medicaid covered 100% of the costs for care in NM, about $300k in total. I lost the car, all my stuff, my job, and I wiped out most of my life savings for transportation, food & lodging expenses (while going to rehab), etc… So far the accident has cost me around $50k out-of-pocket.
The debt I owe the hospital in Utah is about a million dollars. The 21-year-old man who hit me on the highway pled guilty in court, did not get any jail time, but was ordered to pay $500,000 in restitution (at a rate of $800 per month). According to my estimates, if he faithfully makes those payments, his debt will be satisfied in about 52 years.
By the end of 2024, I had returned to Korea because medical care here is cheaper and easier to access. Don’t need to wait months to see a doctor or specialist. My copay for a CT scan, for example, is less than $20. If I want a CT scan, Xray, MRI, blood test, etc…, I can get it the same day I show up at any hospital here.
I am still not able to work full-time, and it is unlikely I will ever fully recover from the injuries I sustained.
I got the first $800 in restitution last month. I do not know how reliable this restitution will be.
But I also owe a million dollars to the hospital. Obviously I will never be able to repay that debt. The Utah Office for Victims of Crime (UOVC) will pay up to $50k for medical, rehab, property losses, etc… To use this, I am required to sign a document stating that UOVC is entitled to any restitution I receive. It makes sense, but at the moment, I don’t have much income and I am desperate for that money just to survive.
Basically, UOVC would function as insurance for the Utah hospital for up to $50k. In the context of the million dollar debt, it is a virtual “drop in the bucket.”
So, (1) what should I do?
(2) Should I sign away the restitution so that the hospital can recover $50k (or so) out the $1.1 million (or so) that I owe?
(3) If I use the UOVC service, can the hospital take away anything else that I have (which, admittedly, is not much)?
(4) Are there other concerns that I have not yet considered? If I don’t use the UOVC service, what perils await?
(5) My civil lawyer “negotiated” a settlement of $25k with the other guy’s car insurance company. From that, he took $9k in fees for himself, and the remainder ($16k) he is holding for an unknown length of time “in case” Medicaid makes a claim on it. Is that legal? How long do I have to wait before he would give me the remaining balance? (He no longer answers my texts or emails).