Months after horrendous crash, bills stacking up for injured dad
LAKE STEVENS, Wash. -- After surviving a horrible car crash that left him bedridden and his son recovering from surgery, a Snohomish County man is now left to deal with a stack of bills he can't pay.
Even with all that is weighing on him, on Thursday Robert Bentz got a chance to see how much people care when he was given a check from concerned KOMO viewers.
"Yeah, I'm very lucky," Bentz said. "It just flashes so fast and I thought I was pretty much dead."
The list of Bentz's injuries is long and painful, including a shattered leg and back. Even his heart was partially crushed.
"My jaw broke -- across and off the top," Bentz.
His 16-year-old son, Rody, was also injured in the crash. The impact of the crash tore the skin off his arm.
Rody was catching a ride with his dad on his first day back to school in September when a man driving a stolen car crossed the center line along Highway 2 and slammed into Bentz.
"Next thing you know , I see a fire, a guy in a fire hat and (then) I blacked out," Bentz said.
In the weeks after the crash, KOMO viewers stepped in to help the Bentz family, sending check after check to for surgeries and rehab.
But the bills kept coming in, and Bentz's medical insurance doesn't cover all of them. KOMO viewers stepped up once again, and on Friday KOMO presented Bentz a check from more than $3,000 to help cover his medical bills.
Bentz said the outpouring of support he's received since the wreck has been tremendous. Recently, his employer told him that no matter how long his recovery takes, there will always be a job waiting form him when he's ready.
Even with all that is weighing on him, on Thursday Robert Bentz got a chance to see how much people care when he was given a check from concerned KOMO viewers.
"Yeah, I'm very lucky," Bentz said. "It just flashes so fast and I thought I was pretty much dead."
The list of Bentz's injuries is long and painful, including a shattered leg and back. Even his heart was partially crushed.
"My jaw broke -- across and off the top," Bentz.
His 16-year-old son, Rody, was also injured in the crash. The impact of the crash tore the skin off his arm.
Rody was catching a ride with his dad on his first day back to school in September when a man driving a stolen car crossed the center line along Highway 2 and slammed into Bentz.
"Next thing you know , I see a fire, a guy in a fire hat and (then) I blacked out," Bentz said.
In the weeks after the crash, KOMO viewers stepped in to help the Bentz family, sending check after check to for surgeries and rehab.
But the bills kept coming in, and Bentz's medical insurance doesn't cover all of them. KOMO viewers stepped up once again, and on Friday KOMO presented Bentz a check from more than $3,000 to help cover his medical bills.
Bentz said the outpouring of support he's received since the wreck has been tremendous. Recently, his employer told him that no matter how long his recovery takes, there will always be a job waiting form him when he's ready.
the only one country in the world where an accident will cost you your house, your kid's house, your parents home, where your children will still have to pay all their lives the debt left behind by a sick parent.. an nobody realizes what a scam this is, and how they instated a new for of slavery, a modern one based of healthcare bills and debt.. the whole world laughs at the us healthcare and at american ignorance....Â
What about the insurance he "should" of had or did have while driving? Wouldn't that pay some/most of the bills?
 @Joey Only liability insurance is required in WA state. Liability only covers damages your vehicle causes.
Send the bills to all those folks who oppose national health care.
While I am sympathetic to Mr. Bentz and wish him all the best. I too have thousands in medical bills that insurance did not cover for my late wife's cancer treatments. I do not expect anyone to send me a check, I am working with the folks I owe money too and they have been very helpful. Worst case bankruptcy. How does KOMO pick and choose, out of what must be thousands, of families dealing with this type of catastrophic event?
@Alert Eagle Really sorry to hear about your wife. Those treatments are rediculous in cost. I hope that you will be able to recover from this. It's bad enough that you lost your wife, you shouldn't have to loose everything else. Good luck to you in all sincerity.
KOMO, please name his employer. I would like to one of their customers, if and when I need their product. Get well soon Mr. Bentz.
 @rockguy Universal Land Construction of Woodinville
what of the jerk who did this?
 @unobtanium Just made out your avatar. You picked a bad time to quit sniffin' glue.
 @Exedore  @unobtaniumÂ
You are the first - 5 free internets to you, sir.
 @unobtanium He is dead. I believe pronounced dead at the scene.
He has an awesome employer to "save" his job for him until he's healthy enough to return. Best wishes to you sir.
No worries, just follow Obama's lead and add the bills to the national debt.
 @JAP506 And the award for original comment of the day goes to... someone else.
/sarcasm
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Well, he should have properly planned for some jacked up lunatic to steal a car, cross the center line and run it into his. I know this could NEVER happen to me. Personal accountability buddy. You pay up or throw your lazy, sorry, sponging off of society butt in debtors prison.
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Oh - and it's all Obama's fault.
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/sarcasm
I would of thought that the car that was stolen would of had some kind of insurance to help cover this. I know if my car was stolen and the a**hole hit someone my insurance would cover their medical bills. I am not meaning to sound rude or that I do not care. I hope for a fast recovery and that his family can be normal once again. I have already given money to him to help, not through komo but through another place that was raising money for him. I feel bad this happen to you and I wish the best.
 @Just my say If the car was stolen there is NO coverage that would extend to him.....Mr. Bentz may have insurance which would cover SOME of the medical bills but not all of them......with deductibles and co-pays medical bills can bankrupt the average person which is why we need the Affordable Health Care Act so that no one is bankrupted due to injury or illness.Â
@JSUGI  I see you have been drinking the cool-aid. Nothing about the "Affordable Health Care Act" will be "affodable". People who couldnt afford medical insurance in the past will still not be able to afford it and all the people who will get it subsidized ("I got free Obama health care!") will drive up the cost to the people who CAN now afford it and many of them will no longer be able to afford it.  When employers can afford to pay the extra cost of their employees health care, they may just decide to have fewer workers.Â
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"Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it".
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 @JSUGI Ok I may have missed understood how the insurance would have worked, my husband handles it all and tells me what it is. I just look at him, nod my head, and say OK honey thank you.
even with 80/20 medical coverage, and a $3000 check......good luck!
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medical services in US is crazy overcharged.
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hope you don't have to cash in you retirement plan and still
owe (like me).Â
Yet another reason we should have single payer health care.
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@deadcandance  I know exactly what you mean. The hypothetical mother you are talking about who had one kid and saw how much "assistance" she got for one child and fugured out that more bastard children means more "assistance" so she stays perpetually pregnant creating a "baby factory". This type of living is learned and passed on to generation after generation of freeloaders.
 @deadcandance There is .It is run through L & I crime victims assistance fund . Apply on line .
=) Happy outcome =)Â Â I wish you all the best in your recovery.