The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF), a charitable organization that grants medical financial aid to children in need to access health services that are not covered by the family’s insurance, recently announced that it is seeking applications from families in need of financial assistance.
The grants, up to $5,000 annually per child and a $10,000 lifetime maximum per child, have been given to children with a variety of conditions, including cerebral palsy.
Applications can be made by parents or legal guardians at the organization’s website (www.UHCCF.org), and there is no deadline.
Eligible patients must be age 16 or younger, and families must meet certain economic guidelines, reside in the United States, and have a commercial health insurance plan that does not have to necessarily be through UnitedHealthcare. The grants are for expenses incurred 60 days before the date a family applies for the aid, as well as ongoing and future medical needs.
The grants have been used in the past not only for medical services but also equipment and physical, occupational and speech therapy, counseling services, surgeries, prescriptions, wheelchairs, orthotics, eyeglasses, and hearing aids.
“When our daughter Penelope was diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech at the age of 3 we were discouraged to find out how expensive speech therapy cost, so imagine our relief when we were approved for a UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation grant that enabled us to get all the help she needed,” said parents Caroline and Robert Belliveau in a press release. “Penelope has shown immense progress since then, and now at the age of 5 is able to hold complete conversations with her peers. We are eternally grateful for the opportunities this grant has provided us.”
Since 2007, the UHCCF has granted over 10,000 grants valued at more than $29 million to families and children in need who suffer from a variety of diseases, including cerebral palsy, cancer, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, hearing loss, autism, cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
“Many families across the United States are facing a variety of financial challenges, including child-related medical costs. The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation medical grants will help families access and pay for care that will improve their child’s health,” said UHCCF President Matt Peterson. “We recently awarded our 10,000th child medical grant and are seeking to help thousands of more families. We encourage everyone to spread the word to friends, family members, and colleagues that child medical grants are available from the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation.”