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Medical bills of children can be costly; benefits could help

Nobody wants to see their children afflicted by a disease, illness or affliction that stands to hamper health, and it gets even worse when the medical bills start coming. ABC News reported that one family who had a child affected by Tourettes syndrome, in which their five year old daughter did not have control over muscle movement, said they were financially “milked” dry by medical bills. Families may be able to get some relief by applying for benefits through the Social Security Administration.

While there have been moves to try to help patients save money, including the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which was tagged onto the financial bailout to help make sure those affected by mental illnesses were treated the same as those with physical, a study by Colleen L. Barry, associate chair for research and practice at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, shows this may not be enough. This law only brought about 5 percent, or $178 per year, in savings.

“I think that we worry most about the sickest children,” Barry said to ABC News, because the costs in these situations are the greatest. “The concern is that [high out-of-pocket costs] inhibit treatment seeking and pose a barrier to families trying to get high quality treatment for their children. There are definitely cases of families being bankrupted from this, taking years to pay off medical expenditures, and making decisions for treatments motivated by cost of care.”

The Law Offices of Harold W. Conick & Associates have successfully represented numerous children before the Social Security Administration in obtaining important financial income and medical benefits for disabled children and their families. Childrens’ disability claims are different than adults’ claims and the evidence required to win these cases must be carefully prepared and presented to the judge. We are experts in successfully presenting critical evidence of childhood disability to the Social Security Administration.