Finance
Financial and Medical Cost Assistance (including Health Insurance)
This section has resources ranging from income support to health insurance to county resources.
Supplemental Security Income
If your child has a medical condition that causes marked and severe functional limitations, you may qualify for SSI. This is income provided by the Federal Government through the Social Security Administration to help support Americans with disabilities. Eligibility depends on your child’s degree of disability and your family’s income and number of dependant children. Families may still qualify even with incomes up to $50,000 a year.
Contact: 1800 772-1213
Social Security Administration website
Supplemental Security Income website
Healthy Start/Healthy Families
Healthy Start is an Ohio program to provide free or low-cost health insurance for working families with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level. A family of four would qualify with income at or below $36,000 a year. The application for Healthy Start/Healthy Families is now the Combined application form which will determine if you qualify for WIC or BCMH at the same time.
More information and a downloadable application is online or call 1-800-824-3680.
Medicaid for People with Disabilities
This program is set up by the federal government and the state of Ohio to provide health insurance for the elderly, blind, and people with disabilities. If your child has a medical condition that causes marked and severe functional limitations and your family meets income guidelines, you may qualify. Income qualifications are similar to those for Healthy Start/Healthy Families, with one important difference: if your income is close to the threshold for qualification, but still too high, you can “spend-down” to qualify. For example: the income qualification for a family of four is $3334 a month. If you make $3500 a month but spend at least $166 on healthcare, you have “spent down” to your income threshold and any further medical costs are eligible for Medicaid coverage. Under certain circumstances, BCMH (see below) can even help pay for your spend-down costs.
Call 1-800-824-3680 (be aware that hold times are often long at this number)
More information available here .
Medicaid Waiver Services
These programs may help provide support for home care for children who don’t meet Medicaid income guidelines but would be institutionalized otherwise. Several waivers are available through different government bureaus:
- Individual Options Waiver – county board of MR/DD
- Level One Waiver – county board of MR/DD
- Ohio Home Care Waiver – county department of Job & Family Services
Online explanation of waivers available here .
Contact your county board for more information about these programs.
WIC – Women Infant’s and Children’s Supplemental Nutrition Program
An Ohio program that provides funds for food, formula, and other nutrition for women and children under the age of 5 with family income below 185% of the federal poverty level.
Call 614-644-8006 for local clinic locations
BCMH – Bureau for Children with Medical Handicaps
BCMH is an Ohio program to provide supplemental medical care funding for children with special healthcare needs – it is NOT a first-line insurance program, but instead assists families with deductibles, co-pays, and services not covered by insurance. BCMH can also help families to pay for private insurance premiums if these payments are more than 7.5% of income, and help families to pay for Medicaid spend-downs (see above). Several programs are offered:
- Diagnostic program - services are covered for 3 months to properly diagnose a qualified medical need if a child is suspected of having one.
- Treatment program – covers medical services related to treatment of a specific eligible medical condition
- Service Coordination – helps parents coordinate medical and therapy services
The BCMH handbook is available as a PDF file or contact: 614-466-1700 or 1-800-755-4769
County Board of MR/DD
Each county in Ohio has a board of MR/DD. These boards provide therapy and many other services for county residents. Services for children ages 0-3 are coordinated through Help Me Grow, and services for school-age children are coordinated with the school districts. Your local county board can give you information about many community resources in your county, and can often help with payment for these services. This is another great place to start for any resource need.
For more information click here .