Does anyone here know about applying for Medical Assistance (is this Medicaid?) without a financial condition? I've read about this in some books and a rep from ASA told me about it, but I've no idea where to start or whom to call about it or what to ask for! I got the ol' bureaucratic run-around today from the several hours of phone calls I made, trying to ellicit information. I have a, let's face it, wealthy acquaintance whose child is on Medicaid and apparently it pays for everything their insurance does not be/c he has autism and so he's considered disabled. I didn't even know it was an option to get this kind of assistance without having to meet certain financial restrictions. We're not wealthy ... but we definitely wouldn't qualify for Medicaid the 'usual' way (through SSI).
Anyone have a clue how to go about this??
Thanks!
Kellie they are not supposed to ask about parents finances. child should get ma due to autism. my son got it then they rejected him. didn't really need it we have good insurance so didn't fight. he got it back at age 18 because then they really can't ask about finances.
I'm thinking it might be possible to do this through the Community
Mental Health even if you have income that exceeds the usual limits.
This is one way that might be possible at least in the state of Michigan and in the county I live in
The way I am thinking of and have heard of would involve your child
being a client of mental health (in addition to services for mentally
ill people they have services for developmentally disabled folks) and
the medicaid and payments for services would be managed through them.
People who make too much for the typical full medicaid get a 'spend
down' limit (which is usually pretty steep on its own as I understand,
a huge amount of money per month per month would have to be spent out
of pocket for those individuals who make too much but still get this
before medicaid kicked in ordinarily) and somehow doing this through a
CMH offsets that 'spend down limit' and
medications, etc this 'spend down limit' is offset, and the typical
things gotten with medicaid on a regular basis can still be procured in
much the same way as they are for the rest of us (who do qualify for
the standard medicaid), just in their cases requiring mental health to
approve and pay for it with the medicaid somehow.
I might be completely wrong about this and I really don't know much about it but that's the only thing I can
think of where it just might be possible and worth checking into (we
ourselves have it through the old stock and standard SSI/FIA (FIA being
'Family Independence agency" formerly social services, every state has
one of these but they have slightly different names as they go).
The only other things I can think of, and I really have no idea what
they are or how they come into play other than they are meant for
'people who fall through the cracks" and their very names, are things
called "Medigap" and "Medran" -- I have no idea what they are or if
they are Michigan-specific or anything else about them.
Also if push comes to shove, a non-Medicaid alternative is having a
charitable organization (typically there is at least one church in an
area that does this) will sometimes help people who fall between cracks
to pick up medications, etc. Not an ideal situation, but still
something to consider.
I hope I am not sending you on any wild goose-chases with any of this
but that's all I've got that I can come up with and think of.
Theda
PS, the only thing and the drawback of dealing with a CMH, and this is speaking strictly from
local horror stories (I happen to live in an area in our state with one
of the lowest ranking CMH's for the entire state) is.. well.. you have
to deal with CMHs and they're not always that enlightened or the easiest
to deal with. Due to my son's hospitalization for Bipolar Disorder we
now have ourselves a CMH caseworker which I am not particularly
thrilled about, but so far nothing disasterous has come of it (and
perhaps if my son has another flare up this young man might be able to
expedite getting him hospitalized if needed).
Kellie,
Regardless of yours or your husbands income your son could qualify for SSI... you might only get like 100 bucks a month, but if they determine he is disabled you should qualify for MA.... it might be worth applying for the SSI just to get the disabled label then you can get the MA if you want.... I don't know if this will work LMFAO but it's a try
Thanks for your input! I guess I'll have to start again next week when everyone returns from their long weekend!
Kellie
Hey Kellie Hope this will help you.......
CHANGES IN SSI http://www.clsphila.org/abc_for_advocates_files/training_mat erial.htm
Supplemental Security Income / Social Security Administration http://autism.about.com/od/ssissa/
DISABILITY BENEFITS http://www.bizdir.org/index.phtml?browse=/Home/Personal_Fina nce/Retirement/Social_Security/Disability_Benefits/
LISTING OF MEDICAID, MR/DD, DEEMING WAIVER, TEFRA & OTHER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Villa/1029/medicaid.html
Disability, Advocacy, Knowing Our Rights http://headaches.about.com/od/disability/