Medicaid Denials for Colorado Children with Severe Disabilities Set Off “Sheer Panic” Among Parents
The Colorado Sun | By Jennifer Brown
Parents of children with medical needs so severe they need round-the-clock nursing care at home are in “sheer panic” as the state Medicaid program notified them this fall that their services have been denied or reduced.
At least 20 families have hired legal counsel to fight the denials and about 150 people attended a Medicaid children with disabilities meeting to discuss the denial letters, which were received during the past few weeks.
Two days before a planned family news conference at the state Capitol, officials from the state Medicaid division Wednesday offered a temporary fix. The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing — which includes the Medicaid program for people with low incomes or disabilities — announced a 60-day reprieve on pending denials.
But for families, it’s not enough. They want a permanent solution to an injustice they say the state should have fixed months ago.
Family has 7 medically fragile children
Several parents gave emotional testimony this month during a medical services board meeting, a governor-appointed, rule-making group for the state department. Board members, after hearing parents speak, strongly urged the department to remedy the issue immediately.
Katerina and Brad Evers, both nurses, have seven adopted children, all with severe medical needs — feeding tubes, oxygen machines, wheelchairs and 150 prescription medicines among them. The kids, ages 2-16, were all living at Children’s Hospital Colorado with no family capable of taking care of them.
All have had 24/7 nursing services approved by Medicaid, a requirement of the hospital when each was discharged. But in the past few weeks, the Everses were notified that three of the children’s Medicaid services were cut in half, to 10 or 12 hours per day. They are expecting a similar reduction in services for two other kids with similar medical issues.
“We are scared to death No. 1 because we don’t know what is going to happen to these children,” Brad Evers told the medical services board. “This is barbaric. This can’t happen this way. They were in the hospital and they didn’t have a mom or a dad.
“They were born broken, and now you are going to break them more because you want to stop some services? They get to call somebody a mom and a dad, and you want to cut hours?”
The family is able to function because the kids’ Medicaid services have paid four daytime nurses and Katerina and Brad to care for them at night, Katerina told The Colorado Sun. The children go to various schools, and some need a nurse with them at school all day. Katerina and Brad try to sleep some during the day, but also take children to doctor’s appointments.
Read Full Article |
