[sudeetoo]

I have some real concern over some information my caseworker has given me. Let me stress, I am in no doubt as to what she has said, and did not "misunderstand" her. Please, if anyone has knowledge about any of this let me know.

1. If a foster child has ANY medical need of ANY nature that is not covered by Medicaid in part or whole then I as the foster parent MUST pay for it without reimbursement from anyone. She stated even surgeries where Medicaid will only pay part. Including "devises" such as intraocular ear implant "upgrades", etc. With all we do I can not believe in my wildest imagination that we would be expected to come up with the money for this. What if it is a brand new placement and the child may only be with us for a matter of months? Plus she said it can't be delayed in hopes that the child would be RU.

2. Regardless of the status of Medicaid cards (such as NO Medicaid card or number) we must take the children/sibling groups for Phys. exam, eye exam and dental exam within 30 days and pay out of pocket and then seek reimbursement. Yea, my instincts say this is probably true knowing the system but when you have a sibling group of 3, that would cost almost $1,000 out of pocket. The SW for the children says don't worry about it, if no cards are issued they'll let you go over the 30 days. CW says absolutely not!

Just a note, the last 2 placements Medicaid cards were issued 6 weeks after placements and 9 weeks after placement.

[sudeetoo]

Me again...I just wanted to add so that nobody gets the wrong impression, that I make sure my little ones have and get everything they need medically - from the cutsie bandaids to ortho mattress pads to whatever... That's what we're supposed to do. It's just the thought of something major rearing it's ugly head and being told "that's your responsibility".

[musemoon]

I picked up my daughter from the hospital. She had a medical card from day one. We are in California and when she had a seizure I called an ambulance, they accidentally sent me the bill and it was over $2k, but since she is a ward of the state until she is adopted in March, the state pays for the overage. They were very specific about it being the state's responsibility to pick up all the extra medical costs that were not covered by mediCal. I am adopting her, so they know she is in an adoptive home and will still pay until the adoption finalizes. So I would check and see what your state specifics are, but it sounds strange. That being said all of her other needs are paid for by me, she does get a monthly stipend.

[jodybird511]

Don't know about services not covered by Medicaid, but with regard to getting the kids infor physical within 30 days, is there a CPS clinic you have access to? Where in TX are you? In Houston, there was an in-house clinic where I took my daughter for all medical care prior to finalizing adoption.

[sudeetoo]

The first sibling group I had had extremely urgent medical issues. I took them to a clinic in Dallas about 75 miles from me which takes them on a "medicaid pending" basis. The problem was that even with early morning appts, me and 5 kids were there for a total of 9 hours. I kid you not. 80% of the meds prescribed were rejected by medicaid while waiting in the pharmacy down stairs. Then, back up to the clinic to have new meds prescribed, back to the pharmacy - denial! back to clinic....(repeat this about 6 times). The people were actually great, but the process grueling. I'll probably just have to suffer through that - it's ridiculous though that these kids have to wait so long for medicaid card issuance. In Calif. the kids were always placed with insurance in hand.

[jodybird511]

I feel for you. My daughter was placed with us at 4 months...we finally received her Medicaid card (after much harrassment and many requests) several weeks after her adoption was finalized (when she was 1 year) and at the point where she was no longer Medicaid-eligible. Gotta love it!

[imadeeva]

I had a FD for a couple of months, and she had a certain type of medicaid. She could only visit the foster care clinic, the emergency, or the doctor named on her card. I'm sorry I can't remeber exactly what type of medicaid she had, but I do know that there are some types that have restrictions. Maybe you can ask the doctor to check it out.
Also, I have been able to receive medicaid numbers from the CW before receiving the card. I used the number for perscriptions and doctor visits. I live in TX.

[TexasJingles]

As far as those 30 day things, CPS should have a clinic somewhere near (they have to take the physically serious cases somewhere, right?). That's how we got them done ... except for dental. Couldn't get in and just happened to find a friend's dentist that referred us to one of his college buddies. It's been great there.

Now, for major medical not covered? Hmmm, I think I'd ask for that one in writing. Pretend you're from the "show me" state. After all, the child is a ward of the state. I'm just the caretaker (don't get me wrong, I love them like they're my own).

T did have an ER visit during the adoption placement period that medicaid never did pay on (it was when their cards were being transferred from foster to adoption and it was all messed up for about 5 days, of course). They send us a bill from the ambulance, we send it on up the chain. Funny, the hospital never sent us anything, just the ambulance.