Posted by Patty Toamso on February 01, 2003 at 21:49:01 from 152.163.207.176:
In Reply to: This happened to my husband posted by Patty Tomaso on November 23, 2002 at 23:02:08:
Ill paramedic fighting firm for coverage, compensation
By Ann Marie Somma
THE NEWS-TIMES
2003-01-20
Joseph Tomaso
DANBURY — Four months ago Joseph Tomaso faced three choices: feed his kids, buy pain medication or pay his mortgage.
Today, he’s broke and can’t do any of them.
His lights have been turned off. He’s falling behind on the mortgage on his West Haven home. He even borrowed money from his elderly father to pay his heating bill.
Tomaso, a 39-year-old paramedic with Danbury Ambulance Service, says he contracted hepatitis C in 1998 while transporting a patient to the hospital.
He hasn’t collected a paycheck since October when he was placed on disability, and he’s paid more than $20,000 in medical bills out of his own pocket.
Tomaso’s life has been spiraling downward, caught in a bureaucratic mess of workers’ compensation claims as he tries to pay his bills, manage his pain and keep his liver healthy.
"Sometimes I can’t believe this is happening. This is really, really ridiculous. I had to ask my father on Social Security to help pay my bills,” said Tomaso, himself a father of three children.
Things seemed to get better for Tomaso in November. After two years of trying to get workers’ compensation, Danbury Ambulance finally agreed to pay Tomaso’s medical bills and $653 a week, the two-thirds of his weekly salary he would have received if he didn’t get sick.
It was a victory for Tomaso and other paramedics, firefighters and police who have to prove to the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission that they contracted hepatitis C on the job before they can collect any benefits.
Even with such proof, it’s standard procedure for insurance companies to contest the claim. The primary method of transmitting hepatitis C is through the sharing of needles and blood transfusions.
"Everybody said you won, you won. My wife said we didn’t have to lose the house,” Tomaso said. "I was going to concentrate on getting better.”
Then in January, Tomaso received a setback. Danbury Ambulance said it would reimburse Tomaso only $1,200, for the two weeks of time he worked for Danbury Ambulance in Connecticut after contracting the virus.
Danbury Ambulance is the parent company to two subsidiaries: Nelson Ambulance of Bridgeport and Westchester Ambulance in New York state. Danbury Ambulance sold Westchester Ambulance after Tomaso said he was diagnosed hepatitis C. It was renamed Westchester Emergency Medical Service.
Tomaso must file a separate claim to recoup wages earned in New York state.
"I worked for a Connecticut company when I contracted the disease and they are liable,” Tomaso said.
After he was diagnosed, Tomaso continued to work for Danbury Ambulance, splitting his time between Danbury Ambulance and Westchester Ambulance.
Joseph Gillis of New Haven, Tomaso’s attorney, said Danbury Ambulance is splitting hairs and his client is entitled to a full paycheck and medical treatment.
"The issue that has developed is that a lot of his employment has been across the border in New York,” Gillis said. "Whether that employment is calculated or becomes part of a Connecticut workers’ compensation case remains to seen. Just because you can change your employment, you shouldn’t be penalized.”
The attorney for Danbury Ambulance, Jason Dodge, with Pomeranz, Drayton & Stabnick of Glastonbury, could not be reached for comment.
"I worked very, very hard for that company,” Tamaso said. "I put in many long hours, sometimes 80, 90 hours a week. I set up a toy drive for that company,” Tomaso said.
Tomaso’s health is failing. He probably will need a liver transplant. In recent weeks, he’s been rushed to the emergency room twice.
He was scheduled to undergo a celiac plexus block on Jan. 27, a procedure to reduce the pain caused from his enlarged liver.
During the procedure, which costs about $10,000, a needle is inserted into the spine and abdominal cavity and alcohol and phenol are injected into the body to relieve the pain.
The hospital called him on Thursday to say the procedure was canceled because the Danbury Ambulance’s insurance company won’t pay for it.
"Every time they turn around, they say they’ll pay for a procedure and then they don’t pay it,” Tomaso said.
Tomaso says he contracted the virus while transporting an 83-year-old Stamford man covered in open bed sores, feces and urine to the hospital.
Tomaso and his attorney are scheduled to go before the Workers’ Compensation Commission Jan. 22 to appeal to the commission to order Danbury Ambulance to pay for Tomaso’s outstanding medical bills and two-thirds of his weekly salary.
Given all that’s happened and all that he stands to lose, Tomaso doesn’t believe he’s reached the lowest point of his life.
"The lowest point is when they tell me there is nothing else they can do. When I get told that my liver is shot and they can’t do anything, a transplant is not available,” he said.
Contact Ann Marie Somma
at asomma@newstimes.com
or at (203) 731-3411.