Re: Chris R: Insurance Issues

[Guest guest]

Hey Jodi!

50 is not old! You are only as old as you feel and as I am typing

this I am hoping you feel young right now and not old from what you

have dealt with! LOL

Dawna

>

>

>

> You said that your insurance will run out when Charissa turns 22.

> Did you know that you can apply for guardianship and then she

should

> be covered under your policy for as long as she needs to be? We

> have been looking into this for Max. Our insurance will only cover

> him until he is 19, or longer if he is a full-time student. Since

> we know he will not be a full-time college student, this is an

issue

> for us. Max's case manager recommended applying for guardianship

> and we are waiting to get an appt. with an attorney to set things

> rolling.

>

> We are also looking into transitional services. I have contacted

> the Jewish Vocational Servic and they are supposed to be receiving

a

> grant to evaluate and assess kids during their junior year of high

> school instead of waiting until they turn 18 or graduate, as the

New

> Jersey Division of Vocational Rehab does. Max will be included in

> this pilot program. I am hoping that since they cover all sorts of

> aspects of the young adult's life, they will have advice and

> direction for us regarding medical care, insurance, possible

Social

> Security, etc. There just is no one here to guide us.

>

> I know that you sent me an email awhile ago with suggestions, but I

> cannot find it. (My usual state of mind these days.)

>

> Hey - I am OLDER than you! Can you believe it? I'm 49, but will

> never admit to turning 50 when that time comes. That just seems

too

> old.

>

> Jodi Z

>

[Guest guest]

Dawna,

Teaching special ed 2nd and 3rd graders will always keep me feeling

young. I have the best time with them! (My own kids are embarrassed

by how I dress and act!)

Jodi Z

[Guest guest]

Hi Jodi Z.,

Thanks so much for the info! I didn't know that about guardianship &

insurance, but it does make sense. Our insurance is like yours, but Charissa

still qualifies for insurance so far because she is considered a full-time

student, even though it is in a transitioning program (but it is provided by the

school district). We haven't applied for guardianship yet, but that and Social

Security are the next rounds of paperwork I have to work on.

Charissa was just approved for state services a couple of weeks ago (she is

now on the Medicaid wait-list) and it only took one application and 2 extremely

time consuming appeals - about 14 months. It is so hard because she has average

intellegence and on paper, is basically " normal " - 3 representatives from the

state disability services had to observe her in her transitioning program and

spend an hour with personnel from the school before they could understand how

complex Charissa is. She just can't utilize alot of her intellegence, can't

apply what she knows to new daily situations, usually can't apply learned skills

to new situations, and behaviorially, socially and emotionally is just not at an

adult functioning level. I couldn't tackle applying for state services, SSI and

guardianship all at the same time (I was overwhelmed) and I've been told that

the SSI will be easier if we already have state disability approval.

It sounds like the Jewish Vocational Service pilot program would be a great

thing for Max. And yet again, Max would be part of the " test group " ! I could

never understand why state DVR waited so long to do an assessment, when

" regular " students are looking into colleges or career options much earlier.

Charissa hasn't even seen DVR because of the delay in her " official " disability

determination, but it doesn't matter so much because of the transitioning

program she is in.

I'll look to see if I saved the previous e-mail of suggestions - if I find it,

I'll re-send it to you off-list.

So, you are there to pave the way for me by turning 50 first - thanks! My

husband turned 50 in September - it really bothered him. He wouldn't let me

have even a small party (and we had been to 3 friends 50th parties within the

last 6 months). They had a big party at work on his birthday & made a big deal

about it, and he felt better.....but then the next day he found out that they

were re-structuring management & didn't need him anymore - they had severance

pay ready when he got to work! Talk about a shock! But it worked out anyway -

he found a much better job & started within 2 weeks, and he is much happier. It

doesn't seem bad to be in my 40's, but I just don't feel grown-up enough to be

50 - maybe I'll grow up in the next 2 years <grin>

in Alaska

RSS-Support wrote:

Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 20:57:41 -0000

From: " Jodi Zwain "

Subject: R: Insurance Issues

You said that your insurance will run out when Charissa turns 22.

Did you know that you can apply for guardianship and then she should

be covered under your policy for as long as she needs to be? We

have been looking into this for Max. Our insurance will only cover

him until he is 19, or longer if he is a full-time student. Since

we know he will not be a full-time college student, this is an issue

for us. Max's case manager recommended applying for guardianship

and we are waiting to get an appt. with an attorney to set things

rolling.

We are also looking into transitional services. I have contacted

the Jewish Vocational Servic and they are supposed to be receiving a

grant to evaluate and assess kids during their junior year of high

school instead of waiting until they turn 18 or graduate, as the New

Jersey Division of Vocational Rehab does. Max will be included in

this pilot program. I am hoping that since they cover all sorts of

aspects of the young adult's life, they will have advice and

direction for us regarding medical care, insurance, possible Social

Security, etc. There just is no one here to guide us.

I know that you sent me an email awhile ago with suggestions, but I

cannot find it. (My usual state of mind these days.)

Hey - I am OLDER than you! Can you believe it? I'm 49, but will

never admit to turning 50 when that time comes. That just seems too

old.

Jodi Z

---------------------------------

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