November 15, 2010

Medical and Special Services Available for Families in SC

doctor-with-boy-childSouth Carolina Medical Resources

The American Academy of Pediatrics provides a state-by-state directory of health care providers serving adopted children. The list includes physicians in private practice as well as those who provide services for internationally adopted children.

MUSC International Adoption Clinic at MUSC Children's Hospital
Charleston, SC

www.musckids.com/adoptions

TEFRA

This program provides financial resources through Medicaid to pay for medical and therapeutic interventions and prescriptions for qualified children. Eligibility is based on your child’s income—not yours. However, your child cannot have funds in a savings account; otherwise, based on the amount in the saving account, your child will not be eligible. If your child does have funds in an account in his name, it can take a few years before your child becomes eligible.

Regarding TEFRA in SC, a mother obtained TEFRA for her adopted daughter from China,  but it took her from January to July 2010; fortunately the benefits were retroactive to November 2009. It is secondary insurance, and in some cases will cover portions that the employer insurance will not.

This mother also added that after you are approved, you must select an insurance plan through TEFRA. What the family was not told is that they could ask for the original Medicaid plan. The original Medicaid plan was the only one that was accepted by the service providers that the child was already using. When signing up for insurance, the other insurance programs through the TEFRA program tried to discourage this family from sticking with the original Medicaid plan by offering them gift cards and personal care items. But, of course, there is no value in selecting a plan that will not cover your child’s treatment. Furthermore, do not automatically accept one of the plans listed through the TEFRA call-in-number that reportedly your child’s physician or other health care providers accept. Check with your child’s health care providers directly to see which plans they accept. This family found that there was a discrepancy in what plan the child’s physician and other service providers would accept and what the TEFRA list indicated.

A good contact resource to learn about these benefits is from Family Connections. The website states that if you would like to talk to another parent whose child has TEFRA contact Family Connection at 1-800-578-875.

http://www.hdwg.org/catalyst/resources#general

Early Intervention Programs

These programs are provided at minimum to no cost to families regardless of income. Your insurance may first be used to cover expenses.

BabyNet This program is for children birth through 36 months of age who may have developmental delays or other issues such as sensory integration problems Children can receive in-home ser ices including occupational, physical and speech therapy. If you believe that your child may need early you can have your child evaluated.

SC First Steps to School READINESs
This program is coordinated with BabyNet but is for children 36 months old and older who need extra services due to developmental delays and other issues. To contact your regional office, go to  www.scfirststeps.org/babynet.html and click on the map to find the location and number.

State BabyNet Program
1300 Sumter St, Suite 100
Columbia, SC 29201
803-734-0479 803-734-1431 (fax)

 

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