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Health Care

Pennsylvania Health Law Project

The PHLP serves a the best resource for answering your questions on healthcare (medical assistance) for individuals with disabilities. They provide healthcare advocacy and free legal representation if necessary. They offer a number of free guides concerning healthcare benefits for individuals with disabilities under their "publications" link that may be immediately downloaded.

A healthcare advocacy program is designed to inform special needs individuals how to obtain necessary healthcare. Advocacy is an important mission element. There are many public policies and programs that greatly influence the health, health care, health insurance, and well-being of people with disabilities.

National organizations have many assets essential to effective advocacy. First, they have committed staff and volunteers who are dedicated to the interests of people with disabilities. Second, these committed people have shown that they can acquire considerable expertise in important public policy issues. Third, people with disabilities and their families can be extremely persuasive in communicating their views, because they speak with firsthand knowledge of the effects of particular policies on chronically ill and disabled persons.

 

Questions To Ask Before Signing on the Dotted Line

If you are shopping for a managed-care plan, cost might be one of your main concerns, but experts urge consumers to base their ultimate choice on the physicians who are in the plan.

 

Here are some questions to ask that will guide you in the right direction. Also be sure to read the plans' literature carefully because once you're in a plan, ignoring their rules could jeopardize your benefits.

  • Are doctors you have depended on for a long time part of a managed-care plan? If not, is there a plan you can join that will reimburse you at least part of the cost of seeing them?
  • Will you need approval from a primary-care physician before you can go to a specialist? (If so, and you think this type of `gatekeeper' system will hinder appropriate care, look for a plan that allows you to go to any doctor in the network whenever you want.)
  • Does the plan emphasize preventive care such as cholesterol screenings?
  • Which hospitals are included in the plan's network? In the event of hospitalization, who is responsible for notifying the plan before going to the hospital--you or your doctor?
  • What is the plan's policy concerning emergency care?
  • What are the hours and locations of a plan's affiliated clinics and providers?
  • What condition are the offices in?
  • How long will you have to wait for an appointment? How crowded is the waiting room?
  • How are you treated when you ask questions?
  • What options do you have if you are unhappy with your care?

Harry (BS.Ed) and Betsy Lieb (BSN) Special Needs Advocates and founders of Accessible Home Builders Corp. are Katie’s parents. We share our lives with our daughter who lives with complex mobility and communication challenges and three other supportive children. We have long been involved in Education in the area of Special Needs Children, advocacy for special needs individuals, innovative service development, community-building and the issues of accessible housing. We support individuals, families, government, educators and community agencies, parent associations and self-advocacy groups through speaking engagements and the development of specialized presentations and training.

Copyright 2006, Exceptional People