Author: Lainey Morrow, MSL Founder & parent
We’re all struggling, aren’t we? We can’t very well handle someone else’s bills probably, but there are fairly easy things we can do. One very sad thing I frequently encounter is the suffering of individuals when great resources exist to prevent such a thing. Sometimes it might be a person whose health is suffering, while for others it may be a suffering future due to delays in development.
As a matter of fact, I have experienced this myself. For 2 years, my husband and I struggled to provide for my daughter. We went into debt, staying awake many nights with worry, and she went without necessary services. We thought we were on our own. We thought we’d been denied for the only things that were out there. We worked as hard as we could, and still it wasn’t enough.
By the time she was 2, my daughter was very developmentally delayed. We didn’t find out about resources we could have accessed until we moved to another state. My friend told me about TEFRA, and my daughter was easily accepted. It makes me sick to think of all she went without simply because we didn’t know this immense resource was available to us. All I needed was someone to tell me about it, which is why that’s a huge mission of MSL – to pass along important information and to connect people with great resources that exist out there.
Someone from another state recently asked me what resources exist for them, so I started to look into it. What if you don’t qualify for Medicaid? TEFRA is an option that only certain states provide, but how do you know if it’s available in your state? If TEFRA isn’t available or you don’t qualify, then what?
Let no one go without, so here’s all my research for you to share.
Which states have TEFRA? (This is a specific type of Medicaid usually for kids with disabilities under 19, usually requiring families who make too much to pay a premium.)
If your state doesn’t have TEFRA or you don’t qualify, what are the other options:
Like I said, I didn’t find out about something my daughter desperately needed until another parent told me about it. Two long years, and we could have gone more.
We can’t help everyone, but we can help someone. Someone helped me. Keep your eyes open. You may not need a resource, but someone in your friends list might. If you see a good resource, share it! It just takes a few clicks. Charities are out there to be used. They want to help people who truly need help. Sometimes they just need a little free publicity to connect with the people who need them.
This is just a start. If you know of any great resources, especially ones that apply to all states, please send them to me to share!
Medicaid Saves Lives 