Sacramento Catastrophic Injury Lawyer

Paralysis, the loss of a limb or a severe burn does not end when the hospital sends you home. It turns into years of care and lost work, and a Sacramento catastrophic injury lawyer has to prove those costs before most of them arrive. In Sacramento County, that proof usually starts at a designated trauma center. The 2023 annual update to Sacramento County’s trauma care system plan names four of them.

This page follows a life-changing injury in the order a patient lives it. The trauma bay and intensive care unit come first, then inpatient rehabilitation, the return home and the long years of care. Each phase creates its own records, adds its own costs and brings in different professionals. The final sections cover what a settlement can do to Medi-Cal and SSI.

Christopher L. Kreeger runs Kreeger Law Firm on his own and has practiced law in California since 1990. Car accident cases make up most of his work, and the main office sits on Douglas Boulevard in Roseville. Chris served as the Capitol City Trial Lawyers Association’s president in 2003. He belongs to the Million Dollar Advocates Forum as well as its Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Past cases never predict the result of a new one.

If a crash or someone else’s carelessness changed your life or a family member’s, call Kreeger Law Firm at (916) 782-8400 for a free consultation. The fee comes only from a recovery, and if there is none, the firm does not charge you for the case costs it advanced.

What a Sacramento Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Needs From the Trauma Bay and ICU

Before a patient with a crushed vertebra can answer a single question, paramedics and trauma nurses have already written down the injury. At Kreeger Law Firm, a catastrophic case review starts with those first charts. They describe the damage before anyone has a reason to argue about it, and every later record gets measured against them.

Emergency crews work beside an overturned car at sunset

Picture a rollover on Interstate 80 near Watt Avenue that leaves the driver unable to feel her legs. Within the first hour, her chart may record her blood pressure, her movement below the injury and the fracture level. If the defense later argues the injury was milder than she claims, those early entries answer it. Their weight still depends on the later records, so gather the full set.

Four Designated Trauma Centers Serving Sacramento County

The county’s trauma plan update lists UC Davis Medical Center as its only Level I center, with designations for adult and pediatric care. Two Level II centers sit inside the county, Mercy San Juan in Carmichael and Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento. Sutter Roseville Medical Center, just across the Placer County line, serves the system as a fourth Level II center. Each hospital runs its own records department, so the request for the trauma chart goes to whichever one admitted you.

Transfers to the Level I Center on Stockton Boulevard

No other hospital in inland Northern California holds Level I trauma status, and UC Davis Medical Center serves patients from 33 counties. A patient first treated at a Level II hospital is sometimes moved there for care the first hospital cannot provide. The move generates a transfer note and often a separate ground or air ambulance bill. Request both hospitals’ charts, since neither holds the complete story.

Burn Care at the Firefighters Burn Institute Regional Burn Center

The region’s adult burn center is the Firefighters Burn Institute Regional Burn Center at UC Davis. Its adult program treats patients over 18, and a linked Shriners program cares for children 18 and under. Burn charts estimate how much of the body’s surface was burned and log each grafting surgery. Those entries become the starting point for the reconstruction costs in Sacramento burn injury claims.

Surgical and ICU Records That Set the Starting Point

ICU nurses chart breathing support, sedation and wound checks around the clock. Surgeons dictate operative reports naming each repair, implant and removed piece of tissue. An amputation report states where the surgeon cut, and a below-knee loss leads to different prostheses and costs than an above-knee loss. Past bills are measured by what the hospital accepted, a rule covered in the firm’s guide to Sacramento car accident claims. Those bills also show which services the patient is likely to need again.

The Filing Deadline Runs During the Hospital Stay

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, an injury lawsuit must be filed within two years, so the clock starts in the ICU. Before suing a public agency, you must present a written claim to it, and Government Code section 911.2 allows six months. Code of Civil Procedure section 352 can pause the deadline when the injured person could not legally make decisions at the time of the injury. Whether a coma or a severe brain injury meets that standard is a fact question, so plan around the original date. Sacramento County Superior Court moved its civil cases in April 2026 to the Railyards courthouse at 500 G Street.

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Inpatient Rehabilitation Records a Sacramento Serious Injury Attorney Uses

What Our Clients Are Saying About Us

When I got in a car accident, I was referred to Chris Kreeger law firm. I couldn’t have gotten a better lawyer to work with. He took care of everything. He was personable, kind, and a yet very thorough and fought relentlessly for what I needed. I knew I was in good hands and he came through with everything I needed in the end.

I would highly recommend Chris to take care of you in hard times. It was a long road and thankfully I am slowly recovering. It was nice to know I had someone that had my back fighting for me and taking extra burden off me in hard times.

– Hiedi Frausto
My family and I were in a severe roll over car accident in January ’19. We all survived thankfully but I suffered a brain bleed and traumatic brain injury. A very trusted friend suggested I call Chris Kreeger and I am so glad I did. He is an amazingly talented attorney who fights for his clients.

He worked hard to make sure we were compensated appropriately for the injuries sustained and kept us fully informed through the entire process. I highly recommend Chris and his team!

– Kelli Yanak
I just wanted to say thank you once again. Your support and advice over the last year is something that my wife and I will always be thankful to you. You treated the two of us extremely well, and you were always willing to answer every question that came up.

– Client

Medicare covers inpatient rehabilitation only when the patient needs an intensive program, under 42 CFR section 412.622. That generally means at least three hours of therapy a day, five days a week, including physical or occupational therapy. A rehabilitation physician must also see the patient in person at least three days a week. The pace produces a dense daily record of the patient’s abilities and limits.

Consider a 45-year-old roofer from Citrus Heights who lost his left leg below the knee in a Highway 50 crash. In week one, his therapy notes might show bed-to-wheelchair transfers with two helpers. By week three, they might show short walks with a walker and one helper. No single note settles what work he can return to, but together they show what the injury took.

Rehabilitation Hospitals for Sacramento Patients

Where a patient goes after the trauma center depends on the injury, the health plan and which beds are open that week. Three programs in the region treat spinal cord and brain injuries, and each keeps records in its own format. The trauma center’s discharge summary names the receiving program. That name tells you where to send the next records request.

UC Davis Rehabilitation Hospital on Broadway

UC Davis Health and Lifepoint Rehabilitation opened the UC Davis Rehabilitation Hospital at 4875 Broadway in April 2023. The 52-bed hospital includes a 12-bed brain injury unit. Its listed conditions also include spinal cord injury, amputation and multiple trauma. A stay on the brain injury unit adds therapy and cognitive records to the evidence used in Sacramento brain injury claims.

Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center in Vallejo

Kaiser Permanente runs its own inpatient program at the Kaiser Foundation Rehabilitation Center in Vallejo. Kaiser says the center treats stroke, spinal injuries and brain injuries in members 14 and older. A member treated at the South Sacramento trauma center may finish rehabilitation there, about an hour’s drive away. Log the family’s mileage, lodging and missed work during those weeks so that a lawyer can review them.

Pediatric Rehabilitation at Shriners Children’s Northern California

Children may continue care at Shriners Children’s Northern California, which has operated on the UC Davis Medical Center campus since 1997. Its pediatric rehabilitation program treats spinal cord and brain injuries. It also treats burns and acquired amputations. A growing child outgrows prostheses, braces and wheelchairs, so a child’s care plan has to budget for more frequent replacements over a longer life.

Therapy Scores and Team Notes That Track Function

Therapists typically score how much help a patient needs for tasks such as dressing, bathing and moving from bed to chair. They take those scores at admission and again at discharge. The gap between the two sets shows how much function returned and how much did not. A defense lawyer reads the same scores looking for signs that the patient recovered faster than the claim says.

The Weekly Interdisciplinary Team Meeting

Federal rules require the rehabilitation team to meet at least once a week, with the rehabilitation physician leading the meeting. The notes from each meeting list goals, barriers and the expected discharge date. When the team concludes that a patient will need help at home permanently, that judgment often appears here first. That note can carry weight, because the team wrote it to plan care rather than to support a lawsuit.

Discharge Summaries and Equipment Orders

The discharge summary lists the equipment ordered, the home health services arranged and the follow-up appointments set. A typical order after paraplegia might include a wheelchair, a pressure-relief cushion and a transfer board. Each item becomes a line in the life care plan, with a price and a replacement schedule. Save every delivery receipt from the equipment supplier.

When a Health Plan Cuts Rehabilitation Short

Health plans review inpatient rehabilitation stays, and some deny additional days or move the patient to a skilled nursing facility. A shortened stay can leave someone less independent at discharge than the team expected. Keep the denial letter, the appeal and the team’s notes together. They show that therapy stopped for coverage reasons, which matters if the defense later points to a plateau in the scores.

Equipment and Home Care Costs a Sacramento Catastrophic Injury Attorney Documents

Discharge day often exposes problems nobody planned for. A ranch house in Elk Grove might have two front steps, a bathtub and hallways too narrow for a power wheelchair. Someone has to help with transfers, bathing and medication several times a day, starting that first night.

A couple reviews a bill at a table, one of them in a wheelchair

This phase adds costs that keep running long after the hospital bills stop. Equipment and home changes come first, while attendant care and transportation continue for years. An occupational therapist’s home visit, a physiatrist’s orders and contractor bids document each cost. What they add up to depends on the injury and the house, so every estimate should come in writing.

Wheelchairs, Prosthetics and Other Equipment That Wears Out

Durable equipment carries two prices, the purchase and every replacement after it. A power wheelchair, a prosthetic leg or a ventilator will need replacing several times over a long life. The life care plan lists each item with its expected service life and repair costs. Equipment, attendant care and medical complications often account for much of the future cost in Sacramento spinal cord injury claims.

Separate Prostheses for Work, Water and Sport

One prosthetic leg rarely covers an active adult’s whole day. A roofer or warehouse worker may need a heavy-duty device for the job, a waterproof leg for the shower and a running blade for exercise. Each device has its own price, its own components and its own replacement cycle. Prosthetic replacement is one of the larger future costs in many Sacramento amputation injury claims.

Burn Reconstruction That Comes After the Scars Mature

Burn surgeons often wait for scars to mature before planning reconstruction, and that wait can run a year or longer. A burn claim valued before that point can miss the surgeries the patient will still need. The UC Davis burn center lists reconstruction among its services, so its clinic notes are the place to look for that plan. Ask the treating surgeon to describe expected procedures in writing before any settlement talks begin.

Ramps, Roll-In Showers and Other Home Modifications

An occupational therapist’s home evaluation lists what has to change, such as a ramp, wider doorways or a roll-in shower. Contractors then bid the work, and the plan uses those bids instead of a rough guess. Some homes cannot be adapted at a sensible price, especially two-story houses with every bedroom upstairs. In that case, the plan may price a move to a single-story home, and that comparison should be documented as well.

Attendant Care Hours and Family Caregivers

Attendant care is often one of the largest recurring costs after a high spinal cord injury or a severe brain injury. Family members usually cover those hours unpaid at first. A daily log with start and stop times shows how many hours the injury actually demands. A life care planner uses that log to price future care, and the defense often pushes for fewer hours or a lower skill level.

Winning serious victories for our clients

$6,000,000 Motorcycle Accident
$5,000,000 Construction Site Accident
$3,200,000 Rear End Collision
$2,500,000 Apartment Fire Accident
$2,500,000 Apartment Fire with Severe Burns
$1,000,000 Rear End Freeway Collision
$1,000,000 Rideshare Head-On Collision
$1,000,000 Rideshare Accident with Back Injury
$400,000 Pedestrian Hit in Crosswalk
$300,000 Side Impact Collision
$300,000 Big Rig Rear-Ended Passenger Vehicle
$240,000 Motorcycle vs. Automobile

Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future case. Every case depends on its own facts and the law that applies to it.

How a Sacramento Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Proves Lifetime Care and Lost Earning Capacity

California’s civil jury instruction on medical expenses, CACI 3903A, lets jurors award future care only when the patient is reasonably certain to need it. The plaintiff also has to prove what that care will reasonably cost. In a catastrophic case, the proof usually comes from a life care plan, an economist and a vocational evaluation.

The long-term years bring medical events of their own. People with spinal cord injuries face pressure sores and infections, burn survivors face more surgeries, and brain injury survivors may need supervision as they age. Each risk needs a physician’s opinion before it goes into the numbers. Nobody can predict a jury’s award for these years, because it turns on the medical proof and the witnesses.

Building a Life Care Plan That Holds Up on Cross-Examination

The plan turns the records from every earlier phase into a schedule of future services. Each entry carries a frequency, a unit cost and a duration, and each one should rest on a record. Prices should come from Sacramento-area providers, because care costs differ from one region to another. The defense usually hires its own planner, whose version is often shorter and cheaper.

Treating Physicians Behind Each Line Item

The strongest entries trace back to orders a treating doctor already wrote, such as the rehabilitation discharge summary or a physiatrist’s clinic note. When a treating doctor will not testify, a retained physician reviews the records and gives the opinion instead. Physiatrists, the physicians who lead rehabilitation teams, often review the full plan before trial. Their review ties each line to the trauma, rehabilitation and home records gathered earlier.

Life Expectancy and the Length of the Plan

A plan’s total depends on how many years it covers. The defense may argue that the injury shortened the person’s life expectancy, which shortens the plan and lowers its total. The plaintiff’s side answers with medical testimony about this person’s health, not population averages alone. That single dispute can move the future care figure more than any price in the plan.

How an Economist Converts the Plan to Present Cash Value

A life care plan states what care will cost when it is delivered. Under CACI 3904A, future economic damages can be reduced to present cash value. That is the sum that, invested today, would cover each cost when it comes due. The instruction leaves future pain and suffering out of that reduction, since jurors already value that loss in today’s dollars.

The Defense Carries the Burden on the Discount

CACI 3904A requires the defendant to prove present cash value through testimony from a qualified witness, usually an economist. Unless the parties agree on a rate, jurors decide the figure from the evidence both sides present. A higher discount rate produces a smaller award, so the rate a defense economist chooses deserves close review.

Medical Inflation After Lewis v. Ukran

Rising health care prices push the other way. In Lewis v. Ukran, a 2019 decision, the California Court of Appeal held that a party seeking an inflation adjustment must prove the method and rate. Without evidence from the party who asks, a fact finder should neither discount future damages nor adjust them for inflation. A plaintiff’s economist therefore has to support any growth rate built into the plan.

Lost Earning Capacity Under CACI 3903D

CACI 3903D asks jurors to compare what the person could reasonably have earned without the injury with what the person can earn now. The instruction says a work history is not required. A Sacramento State nursing student paralyzed in her second year has no career earnings yet. Her claim can rest on her coursework, the job market for nurses and her stated plans. A vocational rehabilitation counselor studies her skills and limits, and an economist turns that study into a number.

How a Sacramento Severe Injury Lawyer Protects Medi-Cal and SSI After a Settlement

Supplemental Security Income caps countable resources at $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple, according to the Social Security Administration’s 2026 figures. A settlement deposited in an ordinary bank account can push a recipient past that limit. Some Medi-Cal programs count assets too, and California changed their limit on January 1, 2026.

Two people review documents at a desk beside a scale of justice

Take a 32-year-old with tetraplegia who receives SSI and Medi-Cal and resolves a claim meant to fund decades of care. How that money is held decides whether those benefits continue. The structure should be chosen before anyone signs a release, often with help from an attorney who handles special needs trusts. The right choice depends on which benefits the person receives now and expects to need later.

Which Benefits Count a Settlement

Means-tested programs look at what you own, and other benefits generally do not. SSI and the Medi-Cal programs for people who are aged, blind or disabled fall in the first group. Private disability policies, union plans and pensions follow their own contract terms. Read those terms before assuming a settlement changes nothing, because some policies reduce payments when other money arrives.

SSI Payments After a Settlement

A settlement paid straight to an SSI recipient generally counts against SSI’s limits. Money kept in a qualifying trust is treated differently, though trust payments still matter. The agency’s 2026 trust guidance says payments for shelter can reduce the monthly check by up to $351.33. Since September 30, 2024, food no longer reduces SSI.

Medi-Cal Programs and the Asset Limit That Returned in 2026

Medi-Cal is not one program, and a settlement affects each part differently. California had eliminated its Medi-Cal asset test, then brought it back for some programs on January 1, 2026. Before relying on any plan, confirm which program covers you on your latest Medi-Cal notice.

Income-Based MAGI Medi-Cal

Many adults under 65 qualify through MAGI Medi-Cal, which measures income rather than savings. The reinstated limit does not apply to that program, so a settlement held in the bank does not affect it on asset grounds. Interest and investment earnings still count as income, so a large account can matter in a different way.

Aged, Blind and Disabled Medi-Cal Programs

Programs that do not use MAGI rules count assets again. DHCS All County Welfare Directors Letter 25-20 set the limit at $130,000 for one person and $65,000 for each additional household member. A person who qualifies through disability and receives a large settlement can lose this coverage unless the money sits in an arrangement the rules exclude.

Programs Exempt From the 2026 Limit

The same letter exempts three programs that run under separate federal authority. They are the Pickle program, the Disabled Adult Child program and the Disabled Widow or Widower program. Anyone covered through one of them should confirm that status in writing before planning around a settlement.

Repaying Medi-Cal for Crash-Related Care

Eligibility is one question, and repayment is another. The Department of Health Care Services runs a Personal Injury Program and says federal and state law require it to recover Medi-Cal payments for injury-related care. After a long ICU and rehabilitation stay, that repayment claim can be large. Request the amount in writing and check it for charges unrelated to the injury before the settlement is divided.

Special Needs Trusts, Pooled Trusts and CalABLE Accounts

Section 1396p of the federal Medicaid statute carves out two kinds of trusts that hold a disabled person’s money without counting it the usual way. The Social Security Administration’s trust guidance excludes the same two from its trust rules. A trustee then pays for things benefits do not cover, such as therapy, equipment or a modified van. CalABLE accounts suit smaller sums. They are open to people whose disability began before age 46, and yearly contributions are capped at the federal gift tax exclusion amount.

First-Party Special Needs Trusts for People Under 65

This trust holds the injured person’s own money, including settlement proceeds, for someone under 65 who is disabled under SSI rules. A parent, grandparent or guardian can establish it, and so can the person or a court. The tradeoff comes at death, when the state receives what remains, up to the total Medi-Cal paid on the person’s behalf.

Pooled Trusts and Court-Supervised Trusts

A pooled trust is run by a nonprofit association that keeps a separate account for each beneficiary and invests the accounts together. It can suit a recovery too small for a private trustee. Trusts funded by a court order for a minor or an adult who lacks capacity follow California Rules of Court rule 7.903. That rule keeps the trust under the court’s continuing jurisdiction, and the trustee may have to post bond and file accounts.

Structured Settlements and Lump-Sum Payments

Federal tax law treats damages for a physical injury the same way whether they arrive in one payment or over time. Section 104(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code excludes both from income, though punitive damages fall outside that exclusion. A structured settlement uses part of the recovery to buy an annuity that pays on a fixed schedule. That schedule is locked once the case closes, so it has to fit the life care plan from the start.

Timing Payments Around the Life Care Plan

One structure pairs an upfront sum for the remodel and the van with monthly payments for attendant care. Larger payments can be timed for the years when the plan predicts a new wheelchair or another surgery. Some annuities also guarantee payments for a set period, so heirs receive them if the injured person dies early. Each option trades flexibility for predictability, and that trade deserves a clear explanation before anyone signs.

Selling Future Payments to a Factoring Company

Some companies offer cash now in exchange for future structured settlement payments, at a discount. Section 5891 of the Internal Revenue Code taxes the buyer 40% of that discount unless a state court approves the sale in advance. The court must find the sale is in the payee’s best interest, considering the needs of anyone who depends on the payee. That review protects payments meant to fund care for decades.

Reach a Sacramento Catastrophic Injury Lawyer at Any Stage of Recovery

You can bring in a lawyer while you are still in the ICU, during rehabilitation or after the equipment bills start arriving at home. Each phase leaves records that are easier to collect while they are fresh, and the filing deadline keeps running through all of them.

Kreeger Law Firm offers a free consultation to people hurt in Sacramento, Roseville and nearby communities. Chris Kreeger reviews the medical records, the insurance policies and the benefits you receive, then explains what the claim involves. His credentials include an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, an Avvo rating of 10.0 and Super Lawyers selection in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The firm’s fee is contingent on a recovery, as its answers to common fee questions explain, and you owe nothing for advanced costs if nothing is recovered. Spanish-speaking staff are available for clients and relatives who prefer Spanish.

To talk with a Sacramento catastrophic injury lawyer about where your recovery stands, call (916) 782-8400 or send a message through the contact page.

Other Injury Cases Chris Kreeger Handles in Sacramento

Kreeger Law Firm also represents people hurt in these Sacramento crashes and injury claims.

Two cars with front-end damage after a collision

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