Wednesday, April 13, 2011

And more good news!

Today I got a phone call from Cincinnati Children's Hospital to discuss the insurance situation for Grace.  I was under the impression that her current insurance (through the state) wouldn't pay for out of state coverage.  Found out today that they often will!  Basically we get one shot at convincing them to pay for her treatment at CCH-we need her pediatrician and her current ENT to write letters to the insurance, advising them that all treatment in Tennessee has been exhausted and she needs further care in Cincinnati.  These letters have to be exactly what the insurance is looking for, or they will deny her coverage.  As it is, the insurance only approves about 50% of the cases submitted!

We had previously been excited about finding some private (albeit very expensive) insurance for Grace through Greg joining the Musician's Union, but we would have had to raise about $10,000 for out of pockets expenses!  Now we don't need to raise money, just prayer!  As everyone knows, that's the easy part for us :)   We are VERY used to raising up prayer for our little girl and seeing statistics overcome!  Numbers like 50% mean nothing to us-ironically, that was the number given to us the night Grace was born, her chance of survival.

I am in disbelief at the way this is coming together so easily and at costs so much less than we had anticipated so far!  We need LOTS of prayer over this insurance!  First, that the doctors would be willing to write the letters.  Especially her current ENT, Dr. Wootten-we haven't discussed this with him yet, an I am a little nervous too since it essentially tells him we don't trust him (which I do as much as I can trust a doctor but he doesn't have an answer), so it's a bit awkward.  Second, that the letters would be written correctly, and third, that all would go smoothly at the insurance company-whoever reads the letters would be moved with compassion for Grace and see the medical necessity for her treatment in Cincinnati.

This process will take 4-5 weeks, so I am going to go ahead and schedule Grace's first visit for about 6 or 7 weeks from now!  In the meantime, my little girl will turn 3 years old next month!