To: President Donald Trump, The New York State House, The New York State Senate, and Governor Andrew Cuomo
Help Children with Special Needs and/or Disabilities Get the Medical Coverage They Need!!
Medical Insurance Companies need to be responsible for covering I.V. Hospital Sedation in regards to dental procedures for children with special needs and/or disabilities as a last resort. Children with extreme anxiety due to their disabilities, can be more terrified of dental procedures than most typical children, and we need insurance companies to recognize this!!! It is not fair that just because it is a dental procedure, they will not cover the sedation, but if it was any other emergency, they would. Cavities can be considered an emergency as well! They can lead to infection, and other health problems if not dealt with in a timely manner!! Please help!
Why is this important?
My son Jacob has been diagnosed with extreme anxiety most likely due to Atypical Autism (PDD-NOS), ADD and/or Tic Disorder. He has been a "special needs" child since he was about 3 years old. Our medical insurance companies, Emblem Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield, have both denied him coverage for I.V. Sedation in the hospital to get his cavities fixed (2 cavities being really bad now). Her has been to 3 different pediatric dentists, with more than 7 office visits, has been under the nitrous oxide, and no one has been able to complete any of the dental procedures, due to my son's extreme anxiety, and also due to his sensory processing disorder, which is a symptom of the PDD-NOS. It has been strongly suggested not only by his pediatric dentists, but by his behaviorist and pediatrician as well, that for my son's best interest he should be put under I.V. sedation in an outpatient room in a hospital in order to complete all of the dental work that needs to be done! I think that all medical insurance companies should be mandated to cover this, so that my son isn't scarred for life by being held down in a dental jacket while he screams in a dental chair, scared out of his mind!! Please help me by signing this petition! I am sure there are a lot of mothers going trough this, and who cannot afford a $10,000 hospital bill! If I cannot help my child, I hope to help other families going through the same situation.