When I was first pregnant with Eli we were expecting/hoping for a normal non complicated pregnancy. Most of you know that wasn't the case as towards the middle my blood pressure started climbing and I ended up spending time in the hospital before he was born. Not having insurance you can imagine the bill we have, the hospital advised us to apply for medicaid which we did but since we had to provide taxes from the previous year which was 2009 we were declined because I had worked 6mo out of the year. When I found out I was pregnant with Willa I thought I should try applying again but as I do when it comes to this sort of thing (I hate filling out paperwork) I dragged my feet. I was actually almost done with the paperwork when we ended up unexpectedly in the hospital 4wks early planning on delivery (see earlier posts if you need that story.)
Once again due to lack of insurance the patient advocate came in the next day and was talking to me about medicaid. She helped me finish the paperwork and get everything submitted shortly after Willa was born. She had told me based off Casey's monthly income she didn't think we would qualify for full medicaid but the kids might at least qualify for Healthwave. For those that don't know what that is its state assisted medical insurance but the parents have to pay for it. Its not as expensive as regular insurance and it covers more. She said that full on medicaid could possibly back pay for medical bills up to 3 months but healthwave wouldn't. However the hospital would give us a reduced rate for the bills which with Willa being in the NICU for 9 days we figured would be a HUGE bill.
So we submitted the paperwork, me fully expecting to not get full medicaid and waited. Last week I got 2 calls from medicaid asking questions to finish my application. One question was about my photography that I had to list as an "employer" but they understood there has been little to no business so far. The other was what I was hoping to have covered for me that was within the last 3 months. This question amused me because I have both kids listed on there and its clear that Willa was JUST born and she wants to know what medical bills we need help with for me. I say pregnancy/birth and she asks which one, ok lady first I'm half asleep, second their dates of birth are listed on her sheet its clear I don't expect help for Eli. Anyway, me being half asleep I say "the 2nd one" Haha like that really answers her question, I realize after a minute and say "Willa, we would LOVE help for Eli's bills but figured that was out of the question" she agrees it is. Thanks me for answering the questions and says we should hear something in the next week or so.
Earlier this week we get something in the mail from KS Healthwave, its a letter announcing they now have an Internet and auto phone service you can log into to manage your accounts. It gives instructions for logging in and such and it says to use your member ID number listed on your health cards. So we are wondering does that mean we've been approved? And if so is it for Medicaid or Healthewave? We waited a few more days and sure enough we get like 5 letters from them (one for each of us and one with the cards and one other). First one I open is the one with the cards (I could feel them) and there are 3, (Casey has insurance through his work) I get excited but them I'm like "Is it medicaid or healthwave?" Casey opens a letter explaining what changes would cause us to need to report to them (change in job, income etc). I open a letter that is saying that Eli has been approved (doesn't say if its healthwave or medicaid) and that it is effective till May when I would have to re-apply. Next I open a letter that is explaining that I have been accepted for medicaid effective June 2011 to 2 months post partum which means I can submit the card info to the hospital and get it covered! I got very excited but I knew Willa's bill was the BIG one we would need to have help with. Finally I open her letter and it says she's been approved and that its effective starting Sept 7 2011 which is the day before she was born! YAY! Praise God that means I can submit her info to the hospital and the Neonatal Dr's that kept checking on her for coverage. What a relief, I know we would have just had to make payments and all but I hate having to do that and to be honest we are pretty strapped money wise monthly anyway. I also didn't want to have a HUGE bill hanging over us for so long.
LOL
All in all we are so thankful for everything! We have a healthy growing baby girl, bills will be paid and while things will be tight for awhile we know that there should be relief at least at tax time as adding another kid to the list will give us an even bigger tax break! Haha
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