You see it in the news, on your Facebook feed and through whispers at school all too often. A child has a medical emergency and the parents don’t have enough money to cover it. It’s scary and we all just kind of put our heads down and feel bad for them, hoping IF it happens to us that insurance or our money nest will cover it.
But what if it doesn’t?
It’s a scary thought – just like retirement and college. As a single mom and premiums going up year after year, what are parents to do? Hope and pray?
Maximo has always been a very active and curious boy, he’s the type who really only learns that fire is hot by getting burnt. It’s more of a question of WHEN he will fall out of a tree and break a bone rather that IF he will fall out of a tree.
It was just last year that he stuck a piece of candy in his ear that landed us in the emergency room for hours, waiting for it to dissolve slowly by adding little droplets of water. If that had not worked, we would have had to consider surgery – for a piece of candy smaller than my pinky finger.
While I want to let him explore the world without fear, I fear medical costs and secretly cringe when he’s climbing up that outside of the playground apparatus in the park. As parents we want to protect our children, but sometimes it’s even just a mini piece of candy that can land you in the hospital.
What can a parent do?
We need to be a little more prepared than that, even if it’s not saving more money in the piggy bank.
There are actually GRANTS for this exact sort of situation; you just need to know they exist (which is why I felt compelled to share this news!). The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation has a program that offers grants to families in need of financial assistance due to a child’s medical needs not being covered or not being fully covered by their commercial health insurance plan.
If you’re reading this, you have the same fears as me or worse, you’re in a bad financial situation and stumbled onto this article while searching for help online. Lucky for you the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation’s overall goal is to help children and families in need—in fact, 88.9% of qualified, completed grant submissions are approved!
What’s the criteria?
You can find out if you qualify here, but basically if your child is under 16 and you make less than $50,000 a year (as a single parent!) you could qualify!
What doesn’t it cover?
This grant is for major medical emergency expenses, not your average trip to the dentist for braces, See what is excluded in the grant here.
Ready to apply?
Click here to fill out the application.
UHCCF Runs on Donations
Grants like this only exist because of donors like you (sound familiar?). It’s true – if you’re looking for a great new foundation to take on, why not one who helps children? Learn how to donate here.
Because happy news is always better
One of my favorite news sources online to follow is HuffPost Good News. They ONLY publish positive stories, which is a refreshing twist from most headlines. So I want to share with you a few success stories from the UnitedHeathCare Children’s Foundation themselves. Because really, not every bad situation has to end bad – there are happy endings and we need to share more of that.
Now grab a $50 Amazon gift card
Stressed about the future? Don’t be! You’re one step ahead by knowing that there are OPTIONS. Now enter to win a $50 gift card just in time for summer to treat the family to something nice, or you know, maybe a nice first aid kit to be safe. 🙂
This is a sponsored post on behalf of the United HealthCare Children’s Foundation. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting FootballFoodandMotherhood.com.
