Bryan Stow won't get all of his insurance money

Presumably, we all remember Opening Day in 2011, when Bryan Stow was attacked in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium for wearing Giants gear.

Last July, Bryan Stow won a civil suit against the Dodgers and was awarded $18 million. Sure, we knew that he wouldn't get all of that money – about four million was supposed to come from the men who attacked him, which we can charitably call "unlikely" – but it was a lot of real, tangible money that could go to his care.

Right now, it looks like he'll get a little less than six million dollars.

Now, six million dollars is a lot of money! It is not, however, a lot of money when you consider that . . . well . . .

Unless he wins his long-shot effort to nullify or reduce the multimillion-dollar insurance lien, Stow will be left with $5.8 million, far short of what he’s likely to need for a lifetime of care. An expert hired by the Stows pegged his future medical costs and rehabilitation at more than $30 million.

If you want the short version of why he's getting so much less money than he needs, it's because federal law allows insurance companies to be scum, so Bryan Stow's insurance company, Envision Healthcare, took that opportunity to be scum and sell some of Stow's debt at a discount to the Dodgers' insurance company, ACE Casualty Insurance and Property, who are also scum.

The jury ordered the Dodgers to pay $13.9 million. The Dodgers' insurance company, ACE, then sent a check to Stow's lawyer, Thomas Girardi, deducting $3.4 million for the medical lien that they purchased at a discount. The maneuver would effectively allow the team's insurer to realize $1.6 million from its lien deal.

You'll continue to see Bryan Stow benefits in the future, possibly headed up by Tim Flannery. Even if you remember the huge award Stow got in the civil suit, here's why we still need to pay attention to those benefits.

Good job, scumbags. You must be proud.