Pennsylvania Medical Assistance: How to Get the Most from Your Medical Assistance for Your Children

If you live in Pennsylvania and your children are receiving medical assistance than you may be entitled to many services you are not getting! Medical assistance in Pennsylvania currently offers children some of the best, most comprehensive coverage, especially considering medical assistance usually does not put any limits on coverage and covers children with any and all pre-existing conditions. Medical assistance makes it possible for children to get the care they need even when other family members do not have coverage of their own.

Medical Assistance is Pennsylvania has evolved and phases out some of it's practices to cut costs, yet there are still many benefits one could take advantage of if you have medical assistance. The truth I, the insurance company isn't going to tap you on the shoulder and say "hey - we'll cover that!" Usually you have to go though the required red tap to get the perks offered through Medical Assistance for children in Pennsylvania. None the less, the perks are well worth getting the appropriate referrals and such and submitting information to your Medical Assistance insurance carrier.

One benefit that will surprise many Pennsylvania Medical Assistance recipients is the diaper program. If you have a child who is over the age of three - your child is eligible to receive free diapers! As for Keystone Mercy coverage, two-hundred diaper are allowed per month using generic brand (unless a specific approved request is made for other reasons) and are billed as a prescription. You will need to contact your doctor and explain why your child is having difficulty potty training (examples include speech/motor delay, physical disability, or anything else that may slow the process of potty training) The child's doctor will then need to write a script for the Medical Assistance to cover the diapers and you take the scrip to any participating pharmacy. You will quickly find that getting this process started is a headache, but be persistent, and be sure to follow through with all the required "red tape" Not having to buy diapers for your child may be well worth the troubles!

Another benefit many Pennsylvania Medical Assistance recipients may not know about is getting generic fever reducers and such can be completely covered by a prescription! Have you ever taken your child to the pediatrician only to hear him say "just give him some Tylenol every four hours" or "some over the counter Benedryl will clear that allergy right up" Considering your child receives Medical Assistance, you may not have that extra ten dollars to spend at the pharmacy. The good news is most Medical Assistance insurance companies will cover this prescription, usually under a generic label. Just ask your doctor if he can write you a prescription for it, and take it to the pharmacy!

There are plenty of other costs that Medical Assistance helps out with, but like I mentioned earlier they don't always make it easy to figure out which ones you qualify for. The key is research! Never be afraid to call member services (usually on the back of the medical card) and ask if they cover...(whatever you are looking for) You may be surprised!

I know I was when my son was approved for laser treatments to remove a port wine stain birthmark that covered half of his face. I thought it may be considered cosmetic, so my husband and I struggled to pay a $300.00 a month premium for medical insurance through his job. With that we would have paid a $100.00 co-payment for each monthly surgery (about 12 were needed) Before the surgeries started, we had to apply for Medical Assistance due to a hardship and surprisingly they (Keystone Mercy) covered everything - free of costs - no co-payments!