I prefer to blog about funny things Curtis says and does and how his autism has enlightened us and enriched our lives.  However, there are certain things Curtis needs that typical children don't need and many of those things are obtained via state agencies and public schools, both of which are the antithesis of user-friendly.  Today, I will share why one of those agencies, DHHS, is likely to drive me completely insane.

Autism is a disability that qualifies Curtis for Medicaid insurance through a program called Katie Beckett.  This program is essential to Curtis because the insurance he gets from Katie Beckett covers services that our private insurance may not cover or may require extensive authorizations or place limitations on how frequently Curtis can receive those services.  The insurance is not free to us, as a matter of fact, we pay more for him to be insured this way than through our work insurances, but the coverage is so much better its worth it.  There is one massive problem with this program....we deal with six different offices to receive this coverage and none of them communicate with each other.  We have to deal with the local DHHS office in Portland, the Medical Review Board in Augusta, Maine Care member services, a contracted nursing agency, the Katie Beckett representative at DHHS, and a payment center that processes our monthly premiums.  Every year, I have to fill out the same paperwork as someone who is applying for Medicaid based on low income, even though we are not accessing the insurance for that reason and we clearly make too much money to qualify anyway.  Then, I have to photocopy Curtis' IEP, his service plan for in home support, and his progress notes from any therapists and doctors who see him (totaling about 70 pages) and mail it to DHHS so they can have a nurse meet with us to determine that Curtis still has autism.  In addition to this, I have to copy and mail the same exact 70 pages of paperwork to Augusta every 3 years so the Medical Review Board can determine that Curtis still has autism.  Last time I checked, you're pretty much signed on to autism for life, especially once you enter grade school, but I guess I'm not qualified to determine that. 

So, after this never ending, irritating process, someone deems Curtis disabled enough to get the insurance and I get to mail payments to a payment center in a completely different town every month.  Guess what they do with these checks?  They cash them and never tell the Portland DHHS office they got them so every couple of months I get a notice from DHHS saying his insurance will be canceled.  Its not annoying at all...except it is.

Laura, Mom

*After re-reading this post, I must make two disclaimers.  First is that I am completely grateful for every bit of help Curtis receives, I am simply discouraged by a system that is so engulfed in red tape it is difficult to access.  Secondly, I am in no way blaming the hard working employees at DHHS.  I am sure they work very, very hard and probably don't get paid nearly enough for what they do.  My problem is with the system they are forced to work in.  I believe they would benefit as much as we would if there was some kind of central database and less paper coming across their desk every day.*