Florida Medicaid now reimburses Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for brain-injured
children.
To quote the first sentence in the second paragraph: "Florida Medicaid
reimburses for hyperbaric oxygen treatments with no limitations to eligible
recipients under the age of 21."
In addition, Florida Medicaid will also arrange transportation.
Florida parents, it's time to start asking. The letter has been converted
to a pdf file and can be downloaded from:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/medicaidforhbot/files/HBOT_Florida_pays.PDF
A brain-injured child in any state pretty much automatically qualifies for
Medicaid. Helping hurt kids was the original purpose of Medicaid.
When Medicaid for children was created in 1967, President Lyndon Johnson
stated "The problem is to discover, as early as possible, the ills that
handicap our children. There must be continuing follow-up and treatment so
that handicaps do not go untreated." (13 Congressional Record 2883.
February 8, 1967).
While Pediatric Neurology and the rest of Medicine ignores this root cause
of brain-injury (insufficient cerebral blood flow), we as parents have a
legal right to this treatment for our children.
In the interest of brain-injured children, a new listserv has been formed
to help parents access Medicaid reimbursement of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
(HBOT).
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Hyperbaric oxygen has been proven to improve recovery in brain-injury.
There are reports that over 90% of all brain-injured children who receive
HBOT receive improvement. However, it is currently not accepted by pediatric
neurology as a standard treatment of care for our children. Because of this
nonacceptance parents are forced to pay for hyperbaric oxygen out of
pocket. Many parents have already taken out 2nd and 3rd mortgages to pay
for this incredibly safe, noninvasive, life-changing, permanent therapy.
The goal of the medicaidforhbot listserv is to change this status. Once
Medicaid reimburses HBOT, the insurance companies will follow suit.
A large obstacle is that each state is free to administer Medicaid
according to however they want; however, each state must comply with the
federal Medicaid law for children--which specifically stipulates that a
treatment like HBOT must be paid for by state Medicaid plans--whether it is
"covered by the state plan or not".
Through this forum we as parents, caregivers, and advocates will be able to
exchange information, tips, and advice on how to access this for our
children.
Together we can make a difference.
Separately we may never make a difference.
I encourage you to participate in this discussion and worthy pursuit.
In addition to invaluable conversation and encouragement, list members will
be able to download over a dozen pdf files that can be used to put together
a request for Medicaid reimbursement through their own state agencies.
There is documentation from several states that will already reimburse HBOT
for brain-injury.
These files are available for download from
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/medicaidforhbot/files/ .
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form
of tyranny over the mind of man." --Thomas Jefferson, probably an early
advocate of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
----------------------------
David Freels
2948 Windfield Circle
Tucker, GA 30084-6714
USA
770/491-6776 (phone and fax)
509/275-1618 (efax, sends fax as email attachment)
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