Lafayette officer's medical expenses not covered by the city
Lafayette officer's medical expenses not covered by the city
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – A GoFundMe was created for a Lafayette police officer who was shot in the line of duty to cover her medical expenses.
Lafayette officer Hali Bradford was shot in the line of duty almost one year ago, leaving her foot paralyzed. Neither her insurance nor worker's compensation is covering her rehabilitation costs.
Bradford was responding to a domestic disturbance call when she and two other officers entered a home.
Police told KLFY that day that the suspect shouted that he was going to kill them all, then that's when he allegedly opened fire on the officers, shooting Bradford and paralyzing her from the waist down. "The suspect who was part of the altercation decided to exchange gunfire with our officers," said Detective Ken Handy. "He struck two officers at the point in time."
Nearly a year later, Hali us still recovering and her left foot remains partially paralyzed. Since then, we've learned Officer Bradford has been paying for her rehabilitation out of pocket, despite being injured in the line of duty.
Why was the city not paying for her medical expenses?
We first contacted the Lafayette Police Department, who told us that we need to talk to Lafayette Consolidated Government Human Resources Department. After we talked with them, they referred us to the mayor-president's office.
LCG Chief Communications Officer Jamie Boudreaux told us the city is meeting their statutes dictated by law, and they have met their obligations with insurance.
When asked, she told us Officer Bradford has been moved off the insurance and is now on the city's workman's comp. plan.
Now, Hali needs extra medical help, which worker's compensation does not cover.
Lawyer Jennifer Valois tells us workman's compensation would not cover this extra medical care for an officer injured in the line of duty because the burden of proof to have the necessary medical care being denied falls on the injured worker and their doctors.
She says if Officer Bradford's treatments are not covered by Louisiana worker's comp., then she has to prove it is covered by one other state's worker's comp. system to have Louisiana's worker's comp pay for the treatments. "There is no other area of law, that I know of, where you have to survey 50 states' laws just to be able to say whether or not somebody can get some rehab therapy," said Valois. "It's wild. It is not what the system is supposed to be."
Valois says this places a tremendous burden on the workers. "These are just working-class people. It is a very difficult burden of proof, and many times, people just fall out of the system," said Valois. "The insurance company doesn't have to pay, and it's on our injured workers to provide their own medical. And they can't even work while they're doing it."
Because Officer Bradford is paying for some of her medical expenses out of pocket, a friend has set up the GoFundMe account to raise the $50,000 needed for Officer Bradford to get the medical care needed to treat her paralyzed foot.