Letter to the Editor

To Milt Zall: In case you get a complaint about the practice of subrogation, I want readers to know it is a good thing to have ["You're injured. Who pays?" [Federal Computer Week, May 28, 2001].

My whole family was nearly killed last year by an underinsured drunken driver. All aspects of the case were undisputed, including the fact that his minimum coverage was a small fraction of the medical expenses that we would eventually incur. If we had not had Federal Employees Health Benefits program coverage, we would never have been able to survive this financially.

An eventual settlement (through our personal underinsured policy) will pay back our carrier, but we would not have been able to get adequate medical help without their coverage during the interim. Subrogation is only fair and in our case, we welcome the practice.

John Hains
Research biologist
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers