Buying health insurance, need some advice?!
Question: My nephew has been diagnosed with a bleeding disorder. My brother and his wife are both self employed but earn too much for Medicaid and government run disability programs. They always bought their own insurance. But after his son's condition the insurance gave them an estimate of $2300 a month in order to buy a plan for their kid. This is because his medications are extremely expensive. My brother said it costs about $160K a year. My brother doesn't know what he should do. He needs his wife at his office so her getting another job is not really an option because they couldn't afford to pay someone for that kind of job. My brother is devastated because if he is supposed pay that much for insurance he might as well go on wellfare. I find it ridiculous that two hard working people like this can't afford to buy insurance for their sick kid in this country. Does anyone know what they should do?
Answers: My nephew has been diagnosed with a bleeding disorder. My brother and his wife are both self employed but earn too much for Medicaid and government run disability programs. They always bought their own insurance. But after his son's condition the insurance gave them an estimate of $2300 a month in order to buy a plan for their kid. This is because his medications are extremely expensive. My brother said it costs about $160K a year. My brother doesn't know what he should do. He needs his wife at his office so her getting another job is not really an option because they couldn't afford to pay someone for that kind of job. My brother is devastated because if he is supposed pay that much for insurance he might as well go on wellfare. I find it ridiculous that two hard working people like this can't afford to buy insurance for their sick kid in this country. Does anyone know what they should do?
Might their son be able to get into CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Plan)?
I know there are places which give financial assistance with prescription drugs. Try Googling 'financial aid' + 'prescription medications.'
Also, try talking to the Lions' Club and the local Freemasons. Both organizations will sometimes assist with situations like this. If your brother is Catholic, he could try the Knights of Columbus. If he's religious at all, his church might be able to help.
Also--Is there a hemophilia support group that your brother and SIL might join? I'm sure there is. They should be able to get a lot of health insurance information through there.
Also, if your brother's town has a nearby Center for Independent Living, which assists the handicapped with advocacy needs, that is another place where you might get useful advice.
You can Google 'Houston Center for Independent Living' to find the website for the one in Harris County, Texas (where I live). It has a phone number, and they might be able to point you to a similar organization in your area. They also have professionals there who can give advice about SSI for your child. That would at least help defray some of the costs, if you can get it. You might have already tried that route.
Othre places you could try:
The Gesundheit Institute (based in Georgia, I think). It's a hospital where treatment is free of charge. They might be able to give you leads to low-cost catastrophic health insurance.
St. Jude's Children's Hospital - Is a cancer hospital, but again, they might know of resources, because theiy don't turn away people who can't pay.
One last resource--Have him talk to his Congressman. Possibly, legislation could be enacted to either raise the funding limits or else assist other families in the same situation.
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