Politicians and Pollsters Aren't Kidding: Medical Insurance Is Important

By Margaret Lyons in News on Sep 29, 2004 4:36PM

We don't like to make fun of other people's pain, butwow. Also, who are we kidding, we totally love making fun of other people's pain. Anywhizz, poor, poor James Killis, Jr. Mr. Killis injured his arm while on the job. He complained, was offered $5,000 and then $10,000 but refused, and then he claims he was fired. Now he's suing his employer for $75,000. So far, standard fare.

Or should we say "faire." Mr. Killis injured himself while jousting as a knight at Medieval Times in Schaumburg. His job was to jump off a galloping horse and "feign defeat," according to the Sun-Times. Killis worked at the castle for six years, so that's a lot of fake jousting. Killis claims further that he wasn't informed of his rights to continued medical coverage after he was fired. Awwhaa? Yes, you too might be entitled to COBRA coverage, the part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act that entitles employees to temporarily extend their employer-provided health insurance after they quit, are fired, or have their hours scaled back. Noooow. Yoooou. Knooooow.

In other Chicagoland health insurance news, if you break your leg body surfing in Hawaii but claim that it happened on the job, you might get caught. Just a heads up. John Dadian, an electrician at Stroger Hospital, pleaded not guilty to insurance fraud, attempted theft, official misconduct and perjury charges yesterday. Dadian was injured while body surfing in Hawaii in early January 2003, and sought medical treatment for his injured legs. Upon returning to work in February, Dadian says he slipped and fell on a wet floor in the basement of the hospital. He filed a workers comp claim, the county wouldn't pay, and they went to court. Dadian withdrew his claim after being confronted, in court, with his medical records from Hawaii. Surfs up, due.