It could be worse

Oy...speaking of insurance nightmares...from the Salt Lake Tribune:

A woman's months long fight for insurance coverage to pay for skull-replacement surgery has ended after her mother's insurer agreed to pay the bill, her mother said Tuesday.

But while Briana Lane's medical problems appear to be ending, she now faces criminal charges stemming from the crash.

The 22-year-old was cited for drunken driving the night of Jan. 10, when she lost control of her Jeep on an icy canyon road near Salt Lake City. The crash sent her through the windshield and eventually to the emergency room, where doctors removed nearly half her skull to treat bleeding on her brain.

For nearly four months, Lane lived in pain without part of her skull, while the hospital and Medicaid determined who would pay for her medical bills. Eventually, the health plan of Lane's mother agreed to retroactively cover her care, costing about $200,000, and doctors replaced the skull piece April 30.

A spokeswoman for the Utah Health Sciences Center, Anne Brillinger, said any alleged wrongdoing by Lane would "absolutely not" affect her medical care.

Lane has been charged with driving under the influence and failure to have a driver license, both misdemeanors, said Roger Blaylock, an assistant district attorney with the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.

According to court documents, Lane's blood-alcohol content was 0.15; the legal limit is 0.08. Lane said she has been summoned to appear in Salt Lake County Justice Court.

The case summary by a sheriff's deputy stated Lane was "yelling and screaming profanity" as she was loaded into an ambulance and a "very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage" was noticeable.

Lane's driver license was expired, the deputy wrote. There were no witnesses to the accident.

Lane said Tuesday that she can't remember the night of the accident, but that an unopened beer can in her car exploded, dousing her when the Jeep rolled over.

"By the time the cops came to the accident scene I was out of control so I could see how they thought I had been drinking," Lane said.

Her license expired on her 21st birthday, she said, adding that she didn't realize that having an expired license was tantamount to having no license.