When Nakaine Bartholin woke up in the intensive care unit of Mount Sinai South Nassau, she didn’t know how long she had been at the Oceanside hospital or why. She only knew she was badly hurt.
“The pain that I felt was [something] that I don’t think I would wish on my worst enemy,” said Bartholin, 52, of Deer Park.
On the morning of Sept. 24, 2023, an intoxicated driver in a 2020 BMW hit Bartholin’s 2020 Chevrolet Equinox head-on in Valley Stream, according to police. Bartholin said the crash left her with hernias, a fractured foot, a broken toe, and internal bleeding and organ damage that required doctors to remove parts of her colon and intestines.
She spent five weeks in the hospital initially, and her injuries have left her unable to work, according to her attorney, Jeremy D. Wiss, of Levine and Wiss PLLC in Westbury. Wiss said she faces up to $700,000 in medical expenses that her former health insurance company has declined to cover.
Since the crash, Bartholin said she has been in and out of hospitals for surgeries on her foot, back and intestines, as well as treatment for sepsis. Meanwhile, her bills continue to mount.
“I can’t afford to pay them,” Bartholin said. “And some [bill collectors] understand; some don’t.”
Bartholin is one of thousands on Long Island living with the physical and financial wreckage of a crash.
With tears in her eyes, she recounted her ordeal to Newsday reporters on a warm May day, seated in a wheelchair in her living room. A bag of medications sat on a small table nearby as sunlight streamed in. Bartholin was angry at the BMW driver who hit her, upending her life.
“She took a lot away from me,” Bartholin said.
The driver, Brooklyn resident Keyana McCray, pleaded guilty last year to assault in the third degree, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving. Reached by phone Wednesday, McCray, 35, declined to comment.
Bartholin is suing McCray and two Long Island bars that allegedly continued serving her while she was intoxicated. Wiss said he hopes to win his client an eight-figure payout.
“Nakaine’s financial situation has been completely destroyed due to this accident,” he said.
Over the past decade, Long Island’s dangerous roads have taken a steep toll — through crashes, injuries and deaths. Between 2014 and 2023, more than 2,100 people were killed and 16,000 seriously injured, according to a Newsday analysis. But beyond the personal devastation, there’s a staggering financial cost.
This burden includes everything from car repairs and replacements, to hospital and health care expenses to legal and administrative fees, lost time and wages, and bills insurance companies won’t cover, according to personal injury attorneys, accident survivors and researchers interviewed by Newsday.
The cost of car crashes can be devastating for victims and their families — but it doesn’t stop there. Communities also bear the cost. In 2023, crashes on Long Island generated at least $3.4 billion in losses, according to Ted Miller, a leading researcher in crash economics and principal research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, which is based in Beltsville, Maryland.
Miller’s estimate includes costs tied to emergency response, cleanup, crash investigations, medical care, lost wages and household productivity and property damage. It also considers pollution from traffic delays, insurance processing, litigation and employer expenses such as hiring and training replacements.
For Newsday’s Dangerous Roads series, Miller calculated Long Island’s crash-related costs based on fatalities, injury severity and vehicle damage. He adjusted for the region’s per capita income and New York’s cost of living. His estimates are conservative, drawn from publicly available data.
Rising costs of car ownership — especially insurance and repairs — have compounded the economic toll of crashes, experts said. High insurance rates are a key factor in the growing number of uninsured drivers in New York State, leaving crash victims financially exposed.
Personal injury attorney Michael Mosscrop of Franklin, Gringer & Cohen in Garden City said many Long Islanders also carry too little insurance coverage.
New York requires $50,000 in no-fault coverage and $25,000 in liability coverage. But many drivers do not raise those minimums. In serious crashes, that often leaves victims with no financial recourse beyond immediate medical costs — especially when the at-fault driver lacks additional coverage or assets.
But car crashes on Long Island don’t just affect the people involved in a wreck.
Miller’s research found “society at-large absorbs” three-quarters of economic impact from the crashes — from taxes used to pay for emergency responses and rebuild roads to insurance premiums paid for by policyholders in the region, whose rates might go up even if they don’t get into crashes.
That’s why Miller argues that residents should be concerned about the fiscal stakes around road safety even if they haven’t crashed or lost someone.
“Because you’re paying for it,” Miller said. “It’s coming out of your pocket and you should care about that.”
The costs that follow a crash can make it hard for households to cover essential expenses — utility bills, rent, mortgages, car payments and insurance premiums. Some survivors fear losing their jobs if they can’t return to work soon enough. Others — like Bartholin — have already left the workforce because of crash-related injuries.
If she had not been involved in the September 2023 collision with McCray, Bartholin would have earned about $95,450 in 2023 from her job as a full-time dialysis nurse and a part-time role at a nursing home, according to pay stubs and a W-2 statement Newsday reviewed.
Bartholin said she cannot return to work, partly because she can no longer stand without using a cane or walker. Her long-term disability insurance, which began in December, pays $2,300 a month. But her monthly expenses, including $1,350 for rent and $1,053 for health insurance through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, exceed that.
She relies on food stamps and financial support from family to make ends meet, she said.
Miller, the researcher, said the damage from crashes goes beyond tangible financial costs. He emphasized losses in quality of life and post-traumatic stress that can deepen financial strain and leave survivors with lasting economic and emotional burdens.
Liz Perper, 54, of Central Islip, said she was less than a mile from home one evening in May 2019, returning from work, when a car hit her at Spur Drive and Carlton Avenue.
“According to witnesses, my car spun around several times,” Perper said.
A police report shows that the other driver alleged that Perper hit their car first. But witnesses told authorities the motorist had been the one to hit Perper, and a crash diagram in the accident report supported that account, according to police records.
Newsday made multiple calls to reach the other motorist and their lawyer but did not get any responses.
Perper said she fractured both pinkies and suffered a mild stroke from the crash. Ongoing memory issues forced her to leave her job in marketing, she said.
“I own a condo, so you have to pay HOA fees, the mortgage, electric, gas,” Perper said. “There’s no money for savings, or to eat, really.”
Perper receives $2,400 a month from long-term disability insurance, which she said barely covers her fixed costs. She said she sees a movement therapist in Manhattan twice a month — $135 out of pocket each visit. She also attends PTSD therapy, sees a chiropractor and receives physical therapy, she said.
Her physical and emotional health have improved, however, driving still triggers her.
“I have unbelievable anxiety,” Perper said. “I don’t want to be in a car.”
At first, she hoped to return to work. But after a year of dealing with stroke symptoms and anxiety, she said her doctor didn’t clear her to return to work and her employer shut down during the pandemic. Her $700-a-month COBRA insurance eventually expired, she said.
She married in 2023, and said her husband’s income has helped. But she is still recovering financially. Perper said she has a hearing in August to determine whether she qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits.
“I don’t know what the outcome of that is going to be,” she said.
In Bartholin’s case, the drunk driver who hit her, McCray, carried only the minimum car insurance, far short of covering Bartholin’s medical costs, said her attorney, Wiss.
Of more than $7 million in medical bills Bartholin accrued after the crash, Wiss said most has been paid by health insurance, Medicaid, Social Security disability benefits, and no-fault auto insurance coverage.
But her former health insurer, UMR, a UnitedHealthcare administrator, has refused to cover about $700,000 in medical expenses, added Wiss, who said he’s appealing the rejections.
Barriers in health insurance often compound the challenges of insufficient car insurance coverage. Dr. Gerard Brogan, Northwell Health’s chief revenue officer, said the hospital system is seeing more patients who have insurance but with very high deductible plans or that don’t cover as much as they expect.
“They, like patients who may not have any insurance, may feel as though they’re unable to pay their medical bills,” he said.
Personal injury attorney Deanne Caputo said she’s seeing more clients who lack health insurance entirely due to cost — and others whose injuries exceed their no-fault auto coverage, which pays for lost earnings, medical care and out-of-pocket expenses. Most insured drivers in New York carry only the minimum required no-fault coverage of $50,000, she said.
She said she’s seen insurers terminate no-fault coverage for her clients after sending them to doctors of the company’s choosing — who then conclude that the injured person no longer needs medical care or physical therapy, Caputo said.
“So, where I come in is a lot of the times, I either have to work out some type of arrangement with doctors and medical professionals to treat the patient on a lien,” said Caputo, a supervising partner in the Garden City office of Sullivan Papain Block McManus Coffinas & Cannavo P.C., headquartered in Manhattan.
A lien is a legally binding agreement between the client and health care provider: The provider agrees to continue treatment with the expectation of payment from a future settlement or verdict. If there’s no financial recovery, the plaintiff becomes responsible for the bill.
“Not all doctors are amenable to doing that because they’re taking a risk,” Caputo said. “You know, it takes years sometimes to get a verdict or settlement.”
For some crash victims, the damage lingers — keeping them out of work and reshaping their daily lives.
Port Jefferson Station resident Frank LaRosa said he was an hour away from finishing his workday delivering auto parts on the evening of Dec. 6, 2016 — and looking forward to his company’s Christmas party — when he got in a road wreck in Medford that has prevented him from working.
“I thought I had actually stepped on the gas — because that’s how fast the car went forward,” said LaRosa, 67. “Then I realized, ‘Whoa, I got hit in the back.’”
The driver of the 2005 Honda that rear-ended him was ticketed for driving without a license and didn’t face any criminal charges, according to a police report obtained by Newsday. The Honda driver was unreachable for comment.
Following the crash, LaRosa was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East (now named NYU Langone Hospital – Suffolk) by ambulance after complaints of injuries, according to the police report.
“And here I am, sitting here still suffering, still going from different types of surgery, still taking pain medicine,” LaRosa said during an interview with Newsday at his home in late May.
Weeks after the 2016 crash, a physician diagnosed LaRosa with post-concussion syndrome, according to disability benefits documents signed by his doctor. The records state he was suffering from constant migraines, dizziness, gait imbalance, difficulty sleeping and short-term memory loss and had difficulty finding words.
His neck and back mobility were also severely limited.
He underwent neck surgeries in 2019 and again in October, according to copies of medical records provided by LaRosa, and said he continues to see a psychiatrist for depression and a physical therapist for chronic pain.
Since the crash, he has accumulated at least $300,000 in medical costs covered by workers’ compensation, according to receipts he shared with Newsday. Before the crash, he said he was making close to $700 a week, which was based on the number of deliveries he made. Social Security documents show he made about $30,000 the year prior to the accident.
LaRosa takes home $576 every two weeks from workers compensation, he said. He takes home an additional $2,200 a month from Social Security benefits, after Medicare premiums, according to an online dashboard shared with Newsday.
His workers comp benefits are set to expire in about three years, according to LaRosa.
“What am I going to do then?” he said. “That’s worrying me.”
After the crash, LaRosa hired a law firm to help him pursue an insurance payout. The firm secured the full $100,000 available under his property damage liability coverage, but after the firm’s fees, LaRosa was left with $54,000, according to a copy of the settlement shared with Newsday.
One third of the money went to the lawyers and 12% went to the New York State Insurance Fund. But the settlement funds didn’t end his money troubles. He and his wife, who works at a daycare, moved from a spacious two-bedroom home to a cramped one-bedroom to cut costs, said LaRosa, who doesn’t know when — or if — he’ll be fit to work again.
“I feel worthless,” he said. “I feel like I have no purpose anymore. When I was working, I felt a sense of accomplishment.”
Glen Cove resident Sean McDuffie, 60, said he’s also wrestled with lingering injuries and emotional distress after an August 2023 crash in North Hempstead. The Glen Cove truck driver said it happened one day when he was off of work and took his motorcycle out for a ride.
He collided head-on with a car making a left turn on Glen Cove Road and was taken to North Shore University Hospital with “serious physical injuries,” according to police reports. The other driver, who police said didn’t suffer any injuries, could not be reached for comment after multiple calls and voicemail messages from Newsday.
McDuffie broke his right arm, left knee and both femurs, according to Northwell Health. His recovery was so challenging that Northwell later featured his rehabilitation journey in an online patient testimonial, “Putting Sean Together Again.”
“My life changed dramatically,” McDuffie said. “Everything is on a budget. I have insurance, rent—so it’s still a struggle.”
While Medicaid covered most medical expenses, his attorney, Gregory S. Newman, said he had to repay about $67,000.
If someone on Medicaid gets money from a settlement, court decision, or other payment — even in a wrongful death case — Medicaid might ask them to pay back what they spent on their medical care, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
After two months in the hospital and inpatient rehab, McDuffie returned home to his wife, Janet. Due to his emotional distress and injuries, he said he hasn’t worked since the crash and has been living off the $2 million settlement he received in October.
“My body is too fragile,” he said. “I’m living with a lot of titanium in me.”
While McDuffie and LaRosa secured settlements after their crashes, Bartholin, of Deer Park, doesn’t know if the civil courts will bring her enough relief.
“Whatever money they give me, I don’t think it’s going to cover all the time and the pain that I’m suffering … with everything that I’ve been through,” she said.
Her lawsuit targets two Long Island bars — Prime 39 in Lynbrook and Moods Lounge and Cafe in Valley Stream — accusing them of serving McCray while she was visibly drunk. Prime 39, which carries $1 million in general liability insurance, denies any wrongdoing. The bar owners and their attorney declined to comment for this story. Moods Lounge didn’t respond to calls for comment and has yet to answer the lawsuit or confirm it has a lawyer. The bar lacks general liability insurance (legal under New York law) and doesn’t own its building, Bartholin’s attorney, Wiss, said.
In November, a judge issued a default judgment against Moods, finding it liable. But collecting damages could be tough given Moods’ lack of assets or insurance.
Wiss plans to seek damages at trial from Prime 39 and McCray. A date hasn’t been set. Adding to the uncertainty: Bartholin’s former and current health insurers — UMR and Oxford — have filed liens against any future payout. UMR wants $430,819; Oxford’s claim is still pending, according to letters Wiss shared with Newsday.
“At the end of this, Nakaine very well may not see a dime,” Wiss said. “And I probably won’t see a dime either.”
McCray is also a defendant in the civil lawsuit. Her attorney in that case didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In April 2024, McCray pleaded guilty to DWI, reckless driving and vehicular assault in exchange for 364 days in jail, probation and a revoked license. But she hasn’t been sentenced. A judge granted a delay so she could receive medical care, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. McCray’s criminal defense attorney said the medical care is for a foot injury sustained in the crash.
Bartholin said of McCray, “I don’t know if I should just hate her or feel sorry for her.”
But despite the hardship Bartholin has weathered since the day McCray crashed into her — and despite the uncertainty of her ongoing legal battles — she still manages to look on the bright side of things.
“I smile, because I’m grateful that I believe in God,” she said. “I’m alive.”
Lourdes Sulca Sanchez came to New York from Peru seven years ago, her daughter Adriana Espinoza said in an interview in Spanish.
Sanchez wanted to work here so she could better provide for her family and help pay university tuition for one of her sons back in Peru. She settled in Lindenhurst, attracted to its tranquility and safe reputation, and made a living by cleaning homes, her daughter said.
Espinoza, 28, remembers how her mother helped her with rent – and helped care for two of Espinoza’s children, ages 4 and 7. Sanchez was there to lend support when another one of Espinoza’s children died at a very young age, and helped care for her husband when he got injured in a separate crash.
“She was a person who, despite every difficulty, always had a smile on her face,” Espinoza said.
On Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving, Espinoza said her mother traveled to Freeport to send money back to her loved ones in Peru. She was crossing Merrick Road on foot that night when a 2008 Volkswagen struck her, according to a copy of the police report obtained by Newsday.
Sanchez was one of three pedestrians killed on Long Island that month within a single 24-hour period. The police report indicates Sanchez was in the middle of the street when struck and asserts she crossed the street at that point either in confusion or error.
The driver who hit her, contacted Tuesday by Newsday, declined to be interviewed for this story. He did not face any charges, the case was closed and the incident was deemed an accident, according to a spokeswoman for Nassau County Police Department.
But Sanchez’s family continues to consult with an attorney to explore additional support options. Sanchez had no life insurance, leaving her family financially unprepared.
“It’s been very difficult,” Espinoza said.
She spoke with a Newsday reporter about what her family had been through one day in May, sitting in the living room of an undecorated home in Ozone Park, Queens, she recently moved into. She wore a powder-blue sweatshirt that read in small print, “I am unwell.”
Raising two children while grieving the loss of her mother, Espinoza continues navigating overwhelming financial and emotional burdens.
Sanchez had dreamed of eventually returning home to Peru to reunite with family.
To give Sanchez a proper Christian burial in Peru, the family faced costs totaling about $15,000. Lacking sufficient funds, Espinoza launched a GoFundMe campaign, raising just under $5,000. The family cobbled together what they could to ensure their mother was buried at home.
Espinoza, who cleans homes like her mother once did, now shoulders the responsibility of continuing her mother’s legacy, financially and emotionally.
“It was my turn to move forward to help my brothers,” Espinoza said. “This is what I’ve promised and it’s a promise I’m going to fulfill.”
Researchers like Miller quantify the greatest financial costs of crashes as those resulting in death. Each fatality typically costs society around $1.6 million, largely due to loss in work, household productivity and legal costs, according to Miller’s research for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
But to Espinoza, her mother’s value was beyond measure.
“I don’t think there’s an amount that could return my mom to life,” Espinoza said, holding back tears.
When Nakaine Bartholin woke up in the intensive care unit of Mount Sinai South Nassau, she didn’t know how long she had been at the Oceanside hospital or why. She only knew she was badly hurt.
“The pain that I felt was [something] that I don’t think I would wish on my worst enemy,” said Bartholin, 52, of Deer Park.
On the morning of Sept. 24, 2023, an intoxicated driver in a 2020 BMW hit Bartholin’s 2020 Chevrolet Equinox head-on in Valley Stream, according to police. Bartholin said the crash left her with hernias, a fractured foot, a broken toe, and internal bleeding and organ damage that required doctors to remove parts of her colon and intestines.
She spent five weeks in the hospital initially, and her injuries have left her unable to work, according to her attorney, Jeremy D. Wiss, of Levine and Wiss PLLC in Westbury. Wiss said she faces up to $700,000 in medical expenses that her former health insurance company has declined to cover.
LONG ISLAND’S DANGEROUS ROADS
Every seven minutes on average, a crash causes death, injury, or significant damage on Long Island. Find out more about LI’s dangerous roads in Newsday’s exclusive yearlong series:
Since the crash, Bartholin said she has been in and out of hospitals for surgeries on her foot, back and intestines, as well as treatment for sepsis. Meanwhile, her bills continue to mount.
“I can’t afford to pay them,” Bartholin said. “And some [bill collectors] understand; some don’t.”
Bartholin is one of thousands on Long Island living with the physical and financial wreckage of a crash.
With tears in her eyes, she recounted her ordeal to Newsday reporters on a warm May day, seated in a wheelchair in her living room. A bag of medications sat on a small table nearby as sunlight streamed in. Bartholin was angry at the BMW driver who hit her, upending her life.
“She took a lot away from me,” Bartholin said.
The driver, Brooklyn resident Keyana McCray, pleaded guilty last year to assault in the third degree, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving. Reached by phone Wednesday, McCray, 35, declined to comment.
Bartholin is suing McCray and two Long Island bars that allegedly continued serving her while she was intoxicated. Wiss said he hopes to win his client an eight-figure payout.
“Nakaine’s financial situation has been completely destroyed due to this accident,” he said.
The pain that I felt … I don’t think I would wish on my worst enemy.
— Nakaine Bartholin, Deer Park
Photo credit: Newsday / Drew Singh
Over the past decade, Long Island’s dangerous roads have taken a steep toll — through crashes, injuries and deaths. Between 2014 and 2023, more than 2,100 people were killed and 16,000 seriously injured, according to a Newsday analysis. But beyond the personal devastation, there’s a staggering financial cost.
This burden includes everything from car repairs and replacements, to hospital and health care expenses to legal and administrative fees, lost time and wages, and bills insurance companies won’t cover, according to personal injury attorneys, accident survivors and researchers interviewed by Newsday.
The cost of car crashes can be devastating for victims and their families — but it doesn’t stop there. Communities also bear the cost. In 2023, crashes on Long Island generated at least $3.4 billion in losses, according to Ted Miller, a leading researcher in crash economics and principal research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, which is based in Beltsville, Maryland.
A leading researcher places the tangible costs of medical care, work loss, property damage and more due to crashes on Long Island in 2023 at
$3.4 billion
A national study measured the lifetime societal cost per crash fatality at
$1.6 million
Miller’s estimate includes costs tied to emergency response, cleanup, crash investigations, medical care, lost wages and household productivity and property damage. It also considers pollution from traffic delays, insurance processing, litigation and employer expenses such as hiring and training replacements.
For Newsday’s Dangerous Roads series, Miller calculated Long Island’s crash-related costs based on fatalities, injury severity and vehicle damage. He adjusted for the region’s per capita income and New York’s cost of living. His estimates are conservative, drawn from publicly available data.
Rising costs of car ownership — especially insurance and repairs — have compounded the economic toll of crashes, experts said. High insurance rates are a key factor in the growing number of uninsured drivers in New York State, leaving crash victims financially exposed.
Personal injury attorney Michael Mosscrop of Franklin, Gringer & Cohen in Garden City said many Long Islanders also carry too little insurance coverage.
New York requires $50,000 in no-fault coverage and $25,000 in liability coverage. But many drivers do not raise those minimums. In serious crashes, that often leaves victims with no financial recourse beyond immediate medical costs — especially when the at-fault driver lacks additional coverage or assets.
But car crashes on Long Island don’t just affect the people involved in a wreck.
Miller’s research found “society at-large absorbs” three-quarters of economic impact from the crashes — from taxes used to pay for emergency responses and rebuild roads to insurance premiums paid for by policyholders in the region, whose rates might go up even if they don’t get into crashes.
That’s why Miller argues that residents should be concerned about the fiscal stakes around road safety even if they haven’t crashed or lost someone.
“Because you’re paying for it,” Miller said. “It’s coming out of your pocket and you should care about that.”
Crashes hurt wallets and quality of life
The costs that follow a crash can make it hard for households to cover essential expenses — utility bills, rent, mortgages, car payments and insurance premiums. Some survivors fear losing their jobs if they can’t return to work soon enough. Others — like Bartholin — have already left the workforce because of crash-related injuries.
If she had not been involved in the September 2023 collision with McCray, Bartholin would have earned about $95,450 in 2023 from her job as a full-time dialysis nurse and a part-time role at a nursing home, according to pay stubs and a W-2 statement Newsday reviewed.
The scene of a head-on crash on East Merrick Road in Valley Stream in which Nakaine Bartholin was injured in September 2023. Credit: James Carbone
Bartholin said she cannot return to work, partly because she can no longer stand without using a cane or walker. Her long-term disability insurance, which began in December, pays $2,300 a month. But her monthly expenses, including $1,350 for rent and $1,053 for health insurance through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, exceed that.
She relies on food stamps and financial support from family to make ends meet, she said.
Miller, the researcher, said the damage from crashes goes beyond tangible financial costs. He emphasized losses in quality of life and post-traumatic stress that can deepen financial strain and leave survivors with lasting economic and emotional burdens.
Liz Perper, 54, of Central Islip, said she was less than a mile from home one evening in May 2019, returning from work, when a car hit her at Spur Drive and Carlton Avenue.
“According to witnesses, my car spun around several times,” Perper said.
A police report shows that the other driver alleged that Perper hit their car first. But witnesses told authorities the motorist had been the one to hit Perper, and a crash diagram in the accident report supported that account, according to police records.
Newsday made multiple calls to reach the other motorist and their lawyer but did not get any responses.
Perper said she fractured both pinkies and suffered a mild stroke from the crash. Ongoing memory issues forced her to leave her job in marketing, she said.
“I own a condo, so you have to pay HOA fees, the mortgage, electric, gas,” Perper said. “There’s no money for savings, or to eat, really.”
There’s no money for savings, or to eat.
— Liz Perper, Central Islip
Perper receives $2,400 a month from long-term disability insurance, which she said barely covers her fixed costs. She said she sees a movement therapist in Manhattan twice a month — $135 out of pocket each visit. She also attends PTSD therapy, sees a chiropractor and receives physical therapy, she said.
Her physical and emotional health have improved, however, driving still triggers her.
“I have unbelievable anxiety,” Perper said. “I don’t want to be in a car.”
At first, she hoped to return to work. But after a year of dealing with stroke symptoms and anxiety, she said her doctor didn’t clear her to return to work and her employer shut down during the pandemic. Her $700-a-month COBRA insurance eventually expired, she said.
She married in 2023, and said her husband’s income has helped. But she is still recovering financially. Perper said she has a hearing in August to determine whether she qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits.
“I don’t know what the outcome of that is going to be,” she said.
When insurance isn’t enough
In Bartholin’s case, the drunk driver who hit her, McCray, carried only the minimum car insurance, far short of covering Bartholin’s medical costs, said her attorney, Wiss.
Of more than $7 million in medical bills Bartholin accrued after the crash, Wiss said most has been paid by health insurance, Medicaid, Social Security disability benefits, and no-fault auto insurance coverage.
But her former health insurer, UMR, a UnitedHealthcare administrator, has refused to cover about $700,000 in medical expenses, added Wiss, who said he’s appealing the rejections.
Barriers in health insurance often compound the challenges of insufficient car insurance coverage. Dr. Gerard Brogan, Northwell Health’s chief revenue officer, said the hospital system is seeing more patients who have insurance but with very high deductible plans or that don’t cover as much as they expect.
“They, like patients who may not have any insurance, may feel as though they’re unable to pay their medical bills,” he said.
Long Island-based personal injury attorney Deanne Caputo said some crash survivors have had to resort to letting doctors place liens on their potential settlements and judgments in exchange for treatment. Credit: Newsday/Drew Singh
Personal injury attorney Deanne Caputo said she’s seeing more clients who lack health insurance entirely due to cost — and others whose injuries exceed their no-fault auto coverage, which pays for lost earnings, medical care and out-of-pocket expenses. Most insured drivers in New York carry only the minimum required no-fault coverage of $50,000, she said.
She said she’s seen insurers terminate no-fault coverage for her clients after sending them to doctors of the company’s choosing — who then conclude that the injured person no longer needs medical care or physical therapy, Caputo said.
“So, where I come in is a lot of the times, I either have to work out some type of arrangement with doctors and medical professionals to treat the patient on a lien,” said Caputo, a supervising partner in the Garden City office of Sullivan Papain Block McManus Coffinas & Cannavo P.C., headquartered in Manhattan.
A lien is a legally binding agreement between the client and health care provider: The provider agrees to continue treatment with the expectation of payment from a future settlement or verdict. If there’s no financial recovery, the plaintiff becomes responsible for the bill.
“Not all doctors are amenable to doing that because they’re taking a risk,” Caputo said. “You know, it takes years sometimes to get a verdict or settlement.”
Hurt and held back
Frank LaRosa was rear-ended by another motorist in 2016 and has been dealing with the physical, emotional and financial consequences ever since. Credit: Frank LaRosa
For some crash victims, the damage lingers — keeping them out of work and reshaping their daily lives.
Port Jefferson Station resident Frank LaRosa said he was an hour away from finishing his workday delivering auto parts on the evening of Dec. 6, 2016 — and looking forward to his company’s Christmas party — when he got in a road wreck in Medford that has prevented him from working.
“I thought I had actually stepped on the gas — because that’s how fast the car went forward,” said LaRosa, 67. “Then I realized, ‘Whoa, I got hit in the back.’”
The driver of the 2005 Honda that rear-ended him was ticketed for driving without a license and didn’t face any criminal charges, according to a police report obtained by Newsday. The Honda driver was unreachable for comment.
Following the crash, LaRosa was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East (now named NYU Langone Hospital – Suffolk) by ambulance after complaints of injuries, according to the police report.
“And here I am, sitting here still suffering, still going from different types of surgery, still taking pain medicine,” LaRosa said during an interview with Newsday at his home in late May.
Weeks after the 2016 crash, a physician diagnosed LaRosa with post-concussion syndrome, according to disability benefits documents signed by his doctor. The records state he was suffering from constant migraines, dizziness, gait imbalance, difficulty sleeping and short-term memory loss and had difficulty finding words.
His neck and back mobility were also severely limited.
He underwent neck surgeries in 2019 and again in October, according to copies of medical records provided by LaRosa, and said he continues to see a psychiatrist for depression and a physical therapist for chronic pain.
Since the crash, he has accumulated at least $300,000 in medical costs covered by workers’ compensation, according to receipts he shared with Newsday. Before the crash, he said he was making close to $700 a week, which was based on the number of deliveries he made. Social Security documents show he made about $30,000 the year prior to the accident.
LaRosa takes home $576 every two weeks from workers compensation, he said. He takes home an additional $2,200 a month from Social Security benefits, after Medicare premiums, according to an online dashboard shared with Newsday.
His workers comp benefits are set to expire in about three years, according to LaRosa.
“What am I going to do then?” he said. “That’s worrying me.”
After the crash, LaRosa hired a law firm to help him pursue an insurance payout. The firm secured the full $100,000 available under his property damage liability coverage, but after the firm’s fees, LaRosa was left with $54,000, according to a copy of the settlement shared with Newsday.
One third of the money went to the lawyers and 12% went to the New York State Insurance Fund. But the settlement funds didn’t end his money troubles. He and his wife, who works at a daycare, moved from a spacious two-bedroom home to a cramped one-bedroom to cut costs, said LaRosa, who doesn’t know when — or if — he’ll be fit to work again.
“I feel worthless,” he said. “I feel like I have no purpose anymore. When I was working, I felt a sense of accomplishment.”
I feel like I have no purpose anymore. When I was working, I felt a sense of accomplishment.
— Frank LaRosa, Port Jefferson Station
Photo credit: Frank LaRosa
Glen Cove resident Sean McDuffie, 60, said he’s also wrestled with lingering injuries and emotional distress after an August 2023 crash in North Hempstead. The Glen Cove truck driver said it happened one day when he was off of work and took his motorcycle out for a ride.
He collided head-on with a car making a left turn on Glen Cove Road and was taken to North Shore University Hospital with “serious physical injuries,” according to police reports. The other driver, who police said didn’t suffer any injuries, could not be reached for comment after multiple calls and voicemail messages from Newsday.
McDuffie broke his right arm, left knee and both femurs, according to Northwell Health. His recovery was so challenging that Northwell later featured his rehabilitation journey in an online patient testimonial, “Putting Sean Together Again.”
“My life changed dramatically,” McDuffie said. “Everything is on a budget. I have insurance, rent—so it’s still a struggle.”
My body is too fragile … I’m living with a lot of titanium in me.
— Sean McDuffie, Glen Cove
Photo credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
While Medicaid covered most medical expenses, his attorney, Gregory S. Newman, said he had to repay about $67,000.
If someone on Medicaid gets money from a settlement, court decision, or other payment — even in a wrongful death case — Medicaid might ask them to pay back what they spent on their medical care, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
After two months in the hospital and inpatient rehab, McDuffie returned home to his wife, Janet. Due to his emotional distress and injuries, he said he hasn’t worked since the crash and has been living off the $2 million settlement he received in October.
“My body is too fragile,” he said. “I’m living with a lot of titanium in me.”
An uphill legal battle
Keyana McCray pleaded guilty to DWI and other charges related to the Valley Stream crash that injured Nakaine Batholin in September 2023. Credit: Newsday/James Carbone
While McDuffie and LaRosa secured settlements after their crashes, Bartholin, of Deer Park, doesn’t know if the civil courts will bring her enough relief.
“Whatever money they give me, I don’t think it’s going to cover all the time and the pain that I’m suffering … with everything that I’ve been through,” she said.
Her lawsuit targets two Long Island bars — Prime 39 in Lynbrook and Moods Lounge and Cafe in Valley Stream — accusing them of serving McCray while she was visibly drunk. Prime 39, which carries $1 million in general liability insurance, denies any wrongdoing. The bar owners and their attorney declined to comment for this story. Moods Lounge didn’t respond to calls for comment and has yet to answer the lawsuit or confirm it has a lawyer. The bar lacks general liability insurance (legal under New York law) and doesn’t own its building, Bartholin’s attorney, Wiss, said.
In November, a judge issued a default judgment against Moods, finding it liable. But collecting damages could be tough given Moods’ lack of assets or insurance.
Wiss plans to seek damages at trial from Prime 39 and McCray. A date hasn’t been set. Adding to the uncertainty: Bartholin’s former and current health insurers — UMR and Oxford — have filed liens against any future payout. UMR wants $430,819; Oxford’s claim is still pending, according to letters Wiss shared with Newsday.
“At the end of this, Nakaine very well may not see a dime,” Wiss said. “And I probably won’t see a dime either.”
McCray is also a defendant in the civil lawsuit. Her attorney in that case didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In April 2024, McCray pleaded guilty to DWI, reckless driving and vehicular assault in exchange for 364 days in jail, probation and a revoked license. But she hasn’t been sentenced. A judge granted a delay so she could receive medical care, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. McCray’s criminal defense attorney said the medical care is for a foot injury sustained in the crash.
Bartholin said of McCray, “I don’t know if I should just hate her or feel sorry for her.”
But despite the hardship Bartholin has weathered since the day McCray crashed into her — and despite the uncertainty of her ongoing legal battles — she still manages to look on the bright side of things.
“I smile, because I’m grateful that I believe in God,” she said. “I’m alive.”
A cost beyond measure
Adriana Espinoza displays the GoFundMe page she created to help with burial costs for her mother at her Queens home. Credit: Jeff Bachner
Lourdes Sulca Sanchez came to New York from Peru seven years ago, her daughter Adriana Espinoza said in an interview in Spanish.
Sanchez wanted to work here so she could better provide for her family and help pay university tuition for one of her sons back in Peru. She settled in Lindenhurst, attracted to its tranquility and safe reputation, and made a living by cleaning homes, her daughter said.
Espinoza, 28, remembers how her mother helped her with rent – and helped care for two of Espinoza’s children, ages 4 and 7. Sanchez was there to lend support when another one of Espinoza’s children died at a very young age, and helped care for her husband when he got injured in a separate crash.
“She was a person who, despite every difficulty, always had a smile on her face,” Espinoza said.
On Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving, Espinoza said her mother traveled to Freeport to send money back to her loved ones in Peru. She was crossing Merrick Road on foot that night when a 2008 Volkswagen struck her, according to a copy of the police report obtained by Newsday.
Sanchez was one of three pedestrians killed on Long Island that month within a single 24-hour period. The police report indicates Sanchez was in the middle of the street when struck and asserts she crossed the street at that point either in confusion or error.
The driver who hit her, contacted Tuesday by Newsday, declined to be interviewed for this story. He did not face any charges, the case was closed and the incident was deemed an accident, according to a spokeswoman for Nassau County Police Department.
But Sanchez’s family continues to consult with an attorney to explore additional support options. Sanchez had no life insurance, leaving her family financially unprepared.
“It’s been very difficult,” Espinoza said.
I don’t think there’s an amount that could return my mom to life.
— Adriana Espinoza, Queens
She spoke with a Newsday reporter about what her family had been through one day in May, sitting in the living room of an undecorated home in Ozone Park, Queens, she recently moved into. She wore a powder-blue sweatshirt that read in small print, “I am unwell.”
Raising two children while grieving the loss of her mother, Espinoza continues navigating overwhelming financial and emotional burdens.
Sanchez had dreamed of eventually returning home to Peru to reunite with family.
To give Sanchez a proper Christian burial in Peru, the family faced costs totaling about $15,000. Lacking sufficient funds, Espinoza launched a GoFundMe campaign, raising just under $5,000. The family cobbled together what they could to ensure their mother was buried at home.
Espinoza, who cleans homes like her mother once did, now shoulders the responsibility of continuing her mother’s legacy, financially and emotionally.
“It was my turn to move forward to help my brothers,” Espinoza said. “This is what I’ve promised and it’s a promise I’m going to fulfill.”
Researchers like Miller quantify the greatest financial costs of crashes as those resulting in death. Each fatality typically costs society around $1.6 million, largely due to loss in work, household productivity and legal costs, according to Miller’s research for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
But to Espinoza, her mother’s value was beyond measure.
“I don’t think there’s an amount that could return my mom to life,” Espinoza said, holding back tears.
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.