Yippee!!!!!

Last December I began the attempts to acquire safety equipment for Alex.  Due to Alex's autism he is a "wander" or "runner".  He has been lost many times, you know you hear parents say that they loose their children in department stores or grocery stores...Alex doesn't hide under the close rack he just keeps running and has no fear of people, cars or anything else that could harm him for that matter.  He has even broken strollers (seat belts/stitching)when he is freaked out or overwhelmed.  The fact that he isn't proficient in his speech can be a problem as well because once someone finds him or stops him he can't communicate with them.  I have really come to hate automatic doors, this past year (age three) he figured out how to climb over our cement block 6 foot fence, but I digress!  Alex has been able to get out of his car seat while fully buckled while I have been driving.  When he is in his seat his feet dangle and for him that makes him a little nuts.  He needs his feet to be touching something at all times (that is why sitting at tables for meals is hard as well).

I began by trying to get his equipment through our personal insurance.  Research was done to find out what car seat and stroller would best fit Alex.  We needed a car seat that provided a foot rest and a buckle with a cover.  Alex needs deep pressure as well and so extra padding was a plus.  The stroller needed to be sturdy enough to not break.  We also needed something that would grow with him and provide support for his feet and head. After finding what our doctors and therapists thought would meet Alex's needs we filled out all of the paperwork as well as doctor and therapist letters and sent them in.  Cigna even gave us a customer service representative to walk us through the process and ask questions.  We were denied and so we appealed and were once again denied.  Car seats are considered safety equipment and not medically necessary and the stroller wasn't approved either because it wasn't deemed medically necessary either.  

Our next step was to go through the state and Alex's second insurance.  The first support coordinator sent Alex's paperwork to a hospice.  Luckily the man that received the paperwork called our occupational therapist who contacted me.   The second support coordinator sent our paperwork to a person in the Department of Disabilities instead of the insurance company.  I didn't find this out though until I had waited the normal thirty days that it takes the insurance company to make a decision.  I called our "support coordinator" and she told me that it would take her a day to get the insurance companies phone number to me to check on the progress.  I googled the number and called within ten minutes.  The insurance company told me they had never heard of my son.  I called and left a message with the supervisor and three days later I heard from her.  I continued to get the run around and was sharing my frustration with my Mom.  She was able to get contact information that allowed people to up their game and get things where they needed to be. 

Alex was approved on June 1st and I was told that his equipment was being expedited and I would have it in 10 days, they would call me as soon as it came in. I called last week and they hadn't received it as of yet.  I called again on Tuesday and not only had they received it, but it was just sitting in the storage area.  Today I received a call from a man saying it was his job to bring me my stroller.  I asked him about the car seat and he said he wasn't told about a car seat.  I asked him to contact his office and he said he would go back to the office.  He called again and said that after speaking with a manager and the manager finding the car in the back of the unit they loaded it on the truck.  

This journey has taken over six months, but Alex now has his equipment and his little sister is very jealous of his new stuff!  I honestly don't know how some of these companies stay afloat and as for the State of Arizona...they are cutting insurance and support for special needs as we speak.  Maybe if they trained their employees and became more efficient they wouldn't be so hard up that they take money and assistance from people that can't fight back!