Fall 2007 Newsletter
CARES Foundation, Inc.
In Sickness and in Health
A sick child often presents parents with conflicts they never imagined, and the resulting turbulence can turn a sunny day into a cloudy one in seconds. Here are a few suggestions, contributed by way too experienced moms and dads, to help avoid stress, pressure and marital difficulties.
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Before a crisis occurs, talk about who will stay home and who will go to work when a child needs 24 hour care. Maybe mom and dad can each work part-time during a child’s illness.
- Arrange for back up if mom and dad both need to be working and an unexpected problem occurs. Share the responsibility by discussing each parent’s role and responsibilities.
- Be considerate of your wife’s or husband’s schedule and work demands. Try dividing up childcare responsibilities and reviewing these responsibilities monthly.
- Have an emergency plan in place; base it on location, availability, and time-off policies.
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Think about hiring help. While this is surely an expensive decision, it may well
be worth it if parents of a sick child can once again enjoy each other’s company!
Insurance Alert!
Battling your insurance company can be an enormous challenge, but you can be successful. If you’re dealing with an “uncooperative” company, consider:
- Get help. Your doctor, hospital business office, and employee benefits office can be a lot more powerful than you are. Plus, there’s a non-profit group called the Patient Advocate Foundation (www.patientadvocate.org) which employs 72 case managers to help people work out insurance issues.
- Be persistent. Appeal again and again and again. You may go through three or four levels of appeals before you get a favorable resolution.
- Use the right words. Certain words will trigger a denial, according to patient advocacy groups. Insurance companies may refuse to pay for surgeries related to cleft lip or palate, saying it's not necessary. For example, when parents appeal because a child needs surgery for "cosmetic" reasons, the appeal often fails. In reconstructive surgery for CAH, mentioning problems with urination, menstruation, or infection is more likely to be effective.
- Ask your doctor to try again. Often a tweak in paperwork will change everything.
- You may need a lawyer. Steps one to four are helpful, but the threat of a lawsuit (with lawyers cc'd) is often the deciding factor.
Our
thanks for this information to Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Medical News.
Disclaimer: Any communication from CARES Foundation, Inc. is intended for informational and educational purposes only and in no way should be taken to be the provision or practice of medical, nursing or professional healthcare advice or services. The information should not be considered complete or exhaustive and should not be used in place of the visit, call, consultation or advice of your physician or other healthcare provider. You should not us the information in this or any CARES Foundation, Inc. communication to diagnose or treat CAH or any other disorder without first consulting with your physician or healthcare provider. The articles presented in this newsletter are for informational purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the views of CARES Foundation, Inc.