Blogged

The email that Medicaid rejected

Lauren Rainey wins!

This 13-year-old middle-school student had been in danger of having her nursing care terminated. Now Medicaid has changed its policies for the better. Read details here.

Dr. McClellan:

I’ve written to express my grave concern regarding Alabama Medicaid’s termination of nursing care for 13-year-old Lauren Rainey of Mobile. You may be familiar with the story, which has gained national attention. The child, a middle-school student, is trach dependent; according to her physician, Dr. Lawrence Sindel, her airway is restricted to the size of the end of an ink pen. Lauren relies on an oxygen machine, a humidifying mister, and 24-hour a day supervision. Medicaid has provided her with a trained nurse for 10 hours a day. Alabama Medicaid now intends to eliminate that care, or at best reduce it to a few hours a month.

Alabama Medicaid Medical Director Dr. Mary McIntyre - who made the decision in Lauren’s case - has stated that Medicaid only provides nursing care for patients whose condition is clearly worsening. That Lauren is essentially being penalized because the care she has received is making her better is far beyond ironic.

Lauren will clearly be put at risk by the Medicaid decision. Dr. Sindel believes that waiting for Lauren’s condition to worsen so that she will be “entitled” to an adequate level of nursing care could jeopardize her life.

Alabama Medicaid has stated that Lauren “is not losing Medicaid,” but the issue is not how many X-ray sessions she will be entitled to - it’s the level of private duty nursing care she will receive. The Alabama governor, Bob Riley, has spoken vaguely of “a myriad of other programs” and “other options” available to Lauren without having - or giving - the slightest clue as to what those alternatives are. So far as can be seen, these alternatives are mere phantoms.

In threatening to eliminate or drastically reduce Lauren’s nursing care, Medicaid is violating the most fundamental tenet of the Hippocratic Oath: “to help, or at least to do no harm.” Lauren Rainey is an ill little girl who needs a champion: someone who will make a compassionate decision in the interest of her health and welfare. I urgently ask that you give lend your attention and your compassion to her case.

Sincerely,
Philip Barron

Well. Time to print it out and mail it. So far as I know, Medicaid isn’t filtering the Postal Service.

© 2004 Philip Barron. Monitored by SiteUptime