Sometimes a friend meets you right where you are.
It is the message that Wyoming families receive when they contact Casper-based Jason’s Friends Foundation for assistance with medical bills after their child is diagnosed with cancer or brain or spinal cord tumors.
Christine Robinson, executive director of the foundation, stated that when families first arrive, the last thing they want to consider is how to pay for their child’s treatment. She noted that in the last two years, the deductibles that families must pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in have skyrocketed.
“I just remember looking at someone’s enrollment form and they had insurance, both parents were working,” Robinson told me. “Their deductible totaled $10,000. And thinking aloud, “How does a normal person pay that unexpectedly, when everything, your entire world, has been turned upside down?”
Jason’s Friends recently launched a grant program that covers a family’s full insurance deductible. The foundation assists families with travel expenses, as patients typically need to travel to Colorado or Utah for specialist care.
Surgery, prescriptions, wheelchairs, counseling, and other expenses have also been paid for with these funds. Families who have to take time off work can also receive assistance with utility bills and rent.
The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation is another source that provides grants to help children pay for medical expenses that are not fully covered by insurance. Over the last 20 years, the foundation has awarded $80 million in grants to families with over 40,000 children.
The foundation’s assistant executive director, Scott Otto, stated that the funds can cover prescriptions, co-pays, and even emergency room visits.
“Grants can be awarded up to $5,000 per child, per year,” Otto explained. “They can apply each year, year over year, up to that $5,000 amount, and up to $10,000 lifetime.”
He stated that families must have commercial health insurance to be eligible, but four out of every five applicants do not have a connection to United Healthcare. UnitedHealth Group has faced public scrutiny for its billing practices, and its gross profit for the fiscal year ending in June exceeded $88 billion. Officials with the foundation point out that the charitable arm that makes grants is a separate entity.
