*sigh*
Okay so in my desperation to get supplemental Medicaid for Makily I emailed the governor.
I know, I'm a rebel right?
My email is long so for my readers sake I will paraphrase it here:
I even included the link to the video below of our life with Makily and encouraged them to watch it as Makily is a REAL little girl that needs help:
I received an email back and at first I was excited because it started out like this:
Thank you for contacting Governor Charlie Crist. The Governor appreciates your concerns for your daughter and asked me to respond on his behalf. We are sorry to hear of the difficulties you have been experiencing.
Then it said that they were going to list several places we could go and get help.
Who did they list?
Who could possibly be of help to our family when EVERYONE has denied us because we are so terribly rich (hahahhahahaa)?
Brace yourself as I am going to give you the "insider Governor information".
AND FINALLY MY FAVORITE.........DRUM ROLL PLEASE.......
DA,DA,DA,DA,DA,DA,DA,
(that was my drum roll by the way)
(I am copying and pasting this DIRECTLY from the email they sent me because I don't want to get one word of it incorrect)
4. I am sorry to learn of the cancer diagnosis. I encourage you to contact the American Cancer Society at their toll-free telephone number to see what programs they have that can be of assistance to you. Their telephone number is: (800) 227-2345.
WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
At no point did I mention or talk about cancer in my email. Makily has never had cancer.
WHAT THE *@#*$%?
I scanned the rest of the email and it basically was referring us to other organizations for cancer patients and for those going through mortgage foreclosures (neither of which were mentioned in my letter about Makily).
??????????????????????????????????????????
The only thing that their email did for me (other than really pissing me off) was to do this:
(copied and pasted directly from the email)
You may wish to write to your senator or representative. If you do not know who your legislative representative is, you can access that information at www.congress.org.
So I of course did some digging to get the names of those people. I emailed all of them.
The only one that responded was Senator Evelyn Lynn.
Her office CALLED ME within an hour of receiving my email!!!!!!!!!!
They have to have a signed casework release form which I received in the mail THE NEXT DAY. I have it filled out along with a ton of other information that I *think* they may need and I am mailing it off TODAY.
I emailed Governer Crist's office back again once I had cooled down some. Here is what it said:
Thank you for your time. Unfortunately the majority of the contacts that were sent are things we have already been denied for as I explained in my original letter. I have applied for medicaid, KidCare and SSI/Dis and they all denied us for being over income. Many of the other links to not apply to our situation either. Okay so in my desperation to get supplemental Medicaid for Makily I emailed the governor.
I know, I'm a rebel right?
My email is long so for my readers sake I will paraphrase it here:
*I explained Makily's condition
*I explained that we have applied for Medicaid, SSI and Disability for Makily and that we were denied for BOTH due to being over income twice.
*I explained that the Florida Medicaid Waiver waiting list is 3-5 years or more and that you can't even apply for your child until they are age three.
*I explained that we have applied for Medicaid, SSI and Disability for Makily and that we were denied for BOTH due to being over income twice.
*I explained that the Florida Medicaid Waiver waiting list is 3-5 years or more and that you can't even apply for your child until they are age three.
I even included the link to the video below of our life with Makily and encouraged them to watch it as Makily is a REAL little girl that needs help:
I received an email back and at first I was excited because it started out like this:
Thank you for contacting Governor Charlie Crist. The Governor appreciates your concerns for your daughter and asked me to respond on his behalf. We are sorry to hear of the difficulties you have been experiencing.
Then it said that they were going to list several places we could go and get help.
Who did they list?
Who could possibly be of help to our family when EVERYONE has denied us because we are so terribly rich (hahahhahahaa)?
Brace yourself as I am going to give you the "insider Governor information".
1. Florida Department of Children and Families to assist us in applying for MEDICAID.
(*uhm, hello I explicitly explained in my email that we have applied and been denied for over income*)
2. Florida Department of Social Services Help to assist us in applying for SSI/Disability.
(*ugh yet again, I also explained we have applied for this TWICE and were denied*)
3. Social Security Administration for whatever assistance they can provide through Disability
(okay uhm, again WE WERE DENIED FOR SSI AND ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT!)
(*uhm, hello I explicitly explained in my email that we have applied and been denied for over income*)
2. Florida Department of Social Services Help to assist us in applying for SSI/Disability.
(*ugh yet again, I also explained we have applied for this TWICE and were denied*)
3. Social Security Administration for whatever assistance they can provide through Disability
(okay uhm, again WE WERE DENIED FOR SSI AND ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT!)
AND FINALLY MY FAVORITE.........DRUM ROLL PLEASE.......
DA,DA,DA,DA,DA,DA,DA,
(that was my drum roll by the way)
(I am copying and pasting this DIRECTLY from the email they sent me because I don't want to get one word of it incorrect)
4. I am sorry to learn of the cancer diagnosis. I encourage you to contact the American Cancer Society at their toll-free telephone number to see what programs they have that can be of assistance to you. Their telephone number is: (800) 227-2345.
WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
At no point did I mention or talk about cancer in my email. Makily has never had cancer.
WHAT THE *@#*$%?
I scanned the rest of the email and it basically was referring us to other organizations for cancer patients and for those going through mortgage foreclosures (neither of which were mentioned in my letter about Makily).
??????????????????????????????????????????
The only thing that their email did for me (other than really pissing me off) was to do this:
(copied and pasted directly from the email)
You may wish to write to your senator or representative. If you do not know who your legislative representative is, you can access that information at www.congress.org.
So I of course did some digging to get the names of those people. I emailed all of them.
The only one that responded was Senator Evelyn Lynn.
Her office CALLED ME within an hour of receiving my email!!!!!!!!!!
They have to have a signed casework release form which I received in the mail THE NEXT DAY. I have it filled out along with a ton of other information that I *think* they may need and I am mailing it off TODAY.
I emailed Governer Crist's office back again once I had cooled down some. Here is what it said:
I was confused about all the cancer links and the "apology" for the cancer diagnosis as I never stated my child has or has ever had cancer. I assume that was copied and pasted from a reply to someone else. Nice.
Also the Senate Bill 2534 does NOT apply to our family's situation as it clearly states that the individual MUST BE 19-64.....I explained in my email that my daughter is four years old.
I will continue looking elsewhere for help for my daughter.
Thank you for your time.
Patricia c.
Surprisingly they did not respond to that email!?
Scoreboard:
Governer Charlie Crist: -25
Senator Evelyn Lynn +50
7 comments:
I should have known to have tissues close by :/ That video was beautiful...you are so blessed. Thank you for sharing your precious daughter with us all! God bless you all!
wow, i understand your frustration... because even though we have qualified for josie's medicaid we cant use it because when the vendor/hospital looks it up it says we are ineligible and i call medicaid and they look it up and say, yup, your eligible and im like wha??? we have been playing this merrygoround for 4 months (in two hour increments on the phone at a time....very long wait times to even talk to a person! i feel like im banging my head against a brick wall! we are supposed to have a 3 way conference call with the wheelchair vendor and medicaid tomorrow to try to clear it up, but im not holding my breath.
i might try the whole representative thing (but not the governor..lol)
praying for your situation. rachel
I admire your spunk and continuing efforts to get support for Makily. Love you, J
Paty,
I am a fellow blogger and a parent and am touched by your story. It seems odd to me that your family was denied over income for Florida KidCare as most are able to get the coverage, even if they are required to pay the full premium. I do know that if your daughter can get employer sponsored insurance and it would cost less than 5% of your monthly income that that would render you ineligible. I wonder if it wouldn’t be worth it to reapply with them via their website. According to www.healthykids.org the eligibility requirements are as follows: the child must be uninsured, between the ages of 5 and 18, not eligible for Medicaid, and not an ineligible non-citizen or child of a state employee. Since your daughter is only four, she would be in a different program called MediKids, but the application process points you to the same Healthy Kids URL. I’m not really sure about all of the facets of your financial situation and I’m not trying to make light of the situation by telling you to reapply. It just doesn’t’ add up to me given what I know about the programs. I hope this information is helpful to you and that you all get the coverage you need for your daughter.
I am sorry, KidCare did not deny just on the basis of over income. They will not accept children that are already insured. So we would have to drop our private insurance on Makily which we are not comfortable doing. Mostly because all the mis-information we have been given as far as getting her covered. I am afraid if we drop her insurance then apply for KidCare and get denied. Then Makily will have ZERO insurance and I doubt BCBS would accept her back on the policy with all her problems. They have to cover her now because she was added at birth.
I will go and look MediKids (never heard of that one) and HealthyKids...problem with those is that I know her pedi does NOT accept HealthyKids (maybe she accepts Medikids?)....and I am not sure about her other specialists either. I know they take straight Medicaid but I am not sure about these two. I will NOT change pedi's with Makily because she knows her inside and out since birth ya know.
I am going to go read up on Healthkids and Medikids.
Thanks for the advice, we will take any help we can get!
Wow...that's terrible! I honestly can't believe the stupidity of your governor. I'm completely proud of you for sending the e-mails. It really shows how determined you are to provide for your beautiful Makily. Hopefully you will get some answers. So many parents of children with special needs are in your shoes..it's sad.
Praying...
Sami
I strongly recommend that you call and make an appointemnt with the governors office to discuss the issue. You dont have to go to the state capital. The governor might have a local office in Orlando.
I have found emails worthlesss when dealing with government agencies. Bring Makily to the appointment. Explain your situation to one of his staffers who meet with you.
It may lead to nothing, but you might be surprised every once in a while that it might actually lead to real help.
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