Tomorrow at 11:30am (EST) we have an appeal hearing scheduled with North Carolina's Division of Social Services to request that they overturn their decision to deny Sam Medicaid benefits through their Community Alternatives Program. A Community Alternatives Program (CAP) is one which waves the parents' income and bases eligibility instead on the needs of the child; the goal is to offer support to the family so that the child's needs can be safely met in the home and the community, as opposed to in a hospital or institution. It's a win/win situation in that the parents do not have to shoulder the entire costly and physically and emotionally taxing load of caring for a child with a severe disability, and the state does not have to pay for the total care of a child who has been put into an institution because his parents couldn't handle the job, had become hopeless drug addicts just to cope, or were out whoring their bodies on the street just to cover the medical costs. See. Win/win.
But Sam was denied these services. Services that he received from a very similar program in California. Now anyone who has met Sam knows that his daily care is total and exhausting, that his inability to take care of even his most basic needs is due to a medical condition which affects several parts of his brain. According to the NC CAP program, Sam is exactly the type of child for which this program was intended. But, you see, the people who made the decision to deny him services have never actually met Sam. So, tomorrow, armed with 5 years worth of medical records, a nurse, a legal aide, letters from doctors, and our own statement we will go into the appeal hearing and formally introduce them to Samuel.
Wish us luck.
3 comments:
Fingers and toes crossing for you Sam...you show them little man! Wow, I wish you a ton of strength tomorrow Mindy. You are all entitled to that support!
o mindy figers crosssed... a candle is burning for you all now here at the allens in the oc
waitin' for an update!
erika
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