*This post is in partnership with UHCCF. All opinions are my own.
Meet Sophia 2019-2020 Grant Ambassador
Sophia has Down Syndrome and has struggled with her speech. She found it difficult to speak, and when tried
she was unintelligible. It was difficult for her to converse with other children when trying to play or make
friends, and even tell her parents her wants and needs. Her family requested a UHCCF medical grant to assist
with Sophia’s speech therapy. Sophia’s therapist greatly helped her with enunciation and made her therapy
sessions playful and enjoyable. Sophia has made leaps and bounds with her speech and is now much more
verbal.
As a parent, what’s the one thing you worry about most?
Putting food on the table every night?
Saving for college?
Making sure your child doesn’t bully others?
Having them covered by insurance in case of emergencies?
It’s enough stress to keep you up at night – and sadly for most moms, it does. In fact, anxiety and depression is up 50% in young mothers in just one generation.
And don’t worry – I am right there up at night as well. We’ve all had those “what if” moments where we love to terrify ourselves with worse case scenarios. And as a single mom, it is always in the back of my mind – what happens to Max if something happens to me?
So what if there was one thing I could tell you today that would remove just a LITTLE bit of that anxiety? I personally know a few families locally who have gone through some hard times with medical bills and their children, and if we had known about this sooner, it would have been a tremendous help. With that, I don’t want anyone else who might be reading here to miss out –
So bookmark this one: The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF).
The UHCCF offers grants to families in need of financial assistance for a child’s medical needs that aren’t being covered by their commercial health insurance plan.
Wait, really?
Yes – even including Medicaid and CHIP plans such as Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield here in NYC are permissible (when secondary to another commercial coverage). In 2018, UHCCF awarded 3,242 medical grants valued at $4.9 million. In 2019, they’re set to hit close to 3400 (more likely 3500!) – and you could be one of them! In fact, 89-90% of all grants applied for are granted!
Meet Aydren (AJ) 2019-2020 Grant Ambassador
AJ is a smart, fun, outgoing, loving child that tries his best to not allow his disabilities to get the best of him. Developmental delays means he demonstrates difficulty with motor planning and following multi-step directions. He has poor attention to non-preferred tasks and requires support to complete them. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to be perfect at everything he does and yearns to be independent but is unable to do simple tasks on his own.The UHCCF grant has assisted AJ with additional OT time to help him master his ADL’s and fine tune his motor skills.
What does it cover?
This includes everything from hearing aids to prosthetics to even physical therapy up to $5,000 annually or $10,000 in a lifetime for a child. There can be exceptions to this. Read more here.
Is your child eligible?
Chances are – yes! The child must be under 16 years of age and the family must be under the salary requirements for family size. You can see all the requirements here. And yes, this is nationwide so you can life anywhere in the United States and be covered.
How do I apply?
You can click here to fill out the application – it’s that easy!
What if I want to help donate or fundraise?
Look at you! Every little bit helps – even donating your time to help spread the word! Everyone knows someone who’s going through something – and just passing on this info could make a world of a difference. Learn more here.
What’s my goal out of this?
Because someone out there today needs to read this – and together we can help UHCCF hit their goal of 50,000 grants by 2030!
