HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — More than a year after a Hillsborough school athletic insurance carrier rejected Monica Johnson’s injury claim on behalf of her football-injured son, she may be getting some financial relief from the Hillsborough County School District itself.
“It will be great,” Johnson said. “I can take some of what I owe on this bill and put it on something else.”
The single mother of King High School football player Kenney Johnson didn’t have any choice when it came to purchasing the school insurance policy in the first place-the school district won’t let kids participate in football, if they don’t buy the coverage.
But when her son suffered a concussion in April 2015, Johnson says her primary health insurance left her with about $3,500 in out of pocket expenses that the school insurance wouldn’t pay for because it happened during offseason football practice at King High School.
Another insurance policy that former King H.S. coach Trey Thomas was supposed to have in place would have likely kicked in, but Johnson never made a claim because she didn’t know about it.
Now, a year and a half later, Thomas has left the school’s employment and no one else at King H.S. or the school district can locate that insurance policy or establish that one even existed at the time of Johnson’s concussion as required by the district. We’re trying to find that paperwork and get it together,” said King Principal Mike Rowan.
“I didn’t find out until about a week and half ago when you started [asking questions] that she was denied a claim in the first place,” Rowan told 8 on Your Side. “If we had known then, if I had known then, we could have helped her out through the process.”
After our You Paid For it investigation disclosed Johnson’s frustration about the school insurance claim denial, Rowan and the school district decided to get involved and have now asked Johnson to file a claim through the Hillsborough County School District’s Safety Office. “Maybe this bill will get taken care of or some type of relief,” Johnson said.
Meanwhile, Rowan tells 8 on Your Side that anytime a Hillsborough parent has a problem collecting on a school athletic insurance claim, they should seek assistance from the school. “I would say this to any parent anybody going through this situation if you let the school know right away we can help because we can walk you through that process.”
Rowan says he’s an educator not an insurance expert, but he fully expects the district to do right by Johnson. He says in his experience, school insurance claims are routinely denied on the first try. After all that has happened.
Rowan is eager to relieve the financial burden of Johnson’s hospital treatment for his football-related concussion. He’s confident the District will step up and help Johnson who has been struggling to pay off her son’s medical bills for the past year.
“I believe that absolutely,” Rowan said. “No doubt.”
