Let's talk money

amajane

How do you make ends meet with a SNC?

DH and I both make decent wages- so much so that DD doesn't qualify for any government assistance programs and we don't qualify for any student loan forgiveness programs or financial assistance for our staggering healthcare costs.

But yet we can't seem to save any money what with having a nanny (because our pedi doesn't want DD in daycare with all the germs),DD's unbelievable healthcare costs (I have insurance through work but it sucks) and just general cost of having a kid.

I feel like we're just surviving with our heads barely above water. We can't afford to buy a home, can't afford a second car and can't afford going on any vacations.

I wish that institutions who can give financial assistance would not just look at total income but also look at personal expenses.?

How do you do if you fall smack dab in the "middle" of "middle class"??

Pierce3252

I'm with you there in the middle - my husband and I both make pretty decent money and we don't really qualify for anything assistance wise either.  We can't do regular daycare because of the feeding tube.  So right now we are lucky to have my retired dad who babysits. 

I like to think sometimes though that our chances would have to be good in the lottery, I mean seriously my kid got his condition with some pretty unlikely odds in the genetics lottery.  So powerball here I come. 

But just recently we have been lucky enough to get some assistance that isn't income based at all. 

We were approved for a 1 year medical card through our EI program in our state, which we can possibly get until he's 3, we just have to reapply each year.  Growth hormone shots are crazy expensive so that is helping.   

Plue through a foundation here that gives "family support" to those with SN kids, we got our hotel room and meals paid for for our next appointments. 

 

suzymarie

We haven't run in to this too much yet since so far DS is fairly typical (has PT, and OT but nothing major).  However he has a 50% risk of learning disorders when he reaches school age. I have a feeling that my translate into needing a parent home with him after school to work on things.  Or paying for special tutoring/etc.  Nothing compared to some of your costs, but it still sucks! 

 

We did face it a bit with my second pg.  We could do IVF w/PGD to 99+% pervent NF in our child.  But that costs 20,000$ plus.  Well, my DH who has NF easily cost the insurance co. that on ONE surgery to remove a tumor (covered msotly by insurance).  So in the long run our insurance co. would be better off paying for IVF now and avoiding those costs later on.  But they won't, of course. 

Matkinson08

We are absolutely in the same boat.  DH and I combined make a very decent amount of money, but...we had just bought a house, had two car payments and were trying to get all of our debt settled when we found out I was unexpectedly expecting.  We qualify for some (very little) assistance while DS is still in the hospital, but will be re-evaluated when he is discharged.  We have a very slim chance of getting some continued assistance if we can show that all of DS combined dx are disabilities.  The assistance that we are getting while he is in the hospital doesn't even come close to how much we have put out during that time on top of all of our regular expenses, parking thats $12 a day, the extra gas, missed days of work and so on and so forth.

I have an aquaintence that qualifies for an exorbinate amount of gov't assistance for her two children from different fathers.  When father of child #2 moved in, she was actually honest with the system about his income and they lowered her $ for food stamps and she had the nerve to complain.  I want to rip my hair out when I hear her talk about how she gets jipped by the system and how is she supposed to live, when my son's medical care with eventually tap out his insurance cap and we'll be on our own with no where to really go.

Sorry about the length.  This is something that eats at me every single day.

EnglishMajor03

We are definitely in the middle of the middle income...so frustrating for some things, but we are lucky enough to live in a state that offers Katie Beckett insurance (through medicaid in NH).  They cover anything above and beyond what DH's insurance doesn't pick up (ie- copays at doctors, prescriptions, PT/OT, hospital stays, etc).  We also have the Health Insurance Premium Program that the Dept of H&HS runs.  Essentially, they send us a check every month that totals the $ of insurance DH pays out of his check.  The state figures that paying for families to keep their primary insurance actually saves them money in the long run.  

I know you're savvy but just wanted to mention these two specific programs that have helped us out.  They are not income based and if your state has HIPP they will just need a record of your medical expenses, which I have no doubt won't be a problem to justify.  If you're looking for programs in your area maybe asking one of your LO's therapists for guidance?  We heard about the programs we are in through our visiting nurse, but I'm sure your PT/OT or even your pedi would be well versed too.  Good luck! 

skittles_123

Right now, we are spending more on therapy for our ds than we actually have money for, in hopes insurance will actually kick in. That could take up to 3-4 months before we have any final answers on that. It is completely overwhelming. We have a car payment, mortgage, and have some cc debt because of the extra money we are spending on therapy. The cc debt keeps creeping up every month and that really bothers me. I don't know what we will do if insurance decides not to pay.

We are a typical middle class family of 4, with both my dh and I working. I just received a letter in the mail from a charity that I applied for assistance from and what a slap in a face it was to say that we made too much money. Umm, if you actually looked at all of our bills, we are in the red every single month. It is so frustrating.

We have tons of equity in our home, so we may end up having to refinance and take some money from that to help us, as we cannot continue to be in red every month.

katherinemichel

amajane:

How do you make ends meet with a SNC?

DH and I both make decent wages- so much so that DD doesn't qualify for any government assistance programs and we don't qualify for any student loan forgiveness programs or financial assistance for our staggering healthcare costs.

But yet we can't seem to save any money what with having a nanny (because our pedi doesn't want DD in daycare with all the germs),DD's unbelievable healthcare costs (I have insurance through work but it sucks) and just general cost of having a kid.

I feel like we're just surviving with our heads barely above water. We can't afford to buy a home, can't afford a second car and can't afford going on any vacations.

I wish that institutions who can give financial assistance would not just look at total income but also look at personal expenses. 

How do you do if you fall smack dab in the "middle" of "middle class"? 

 

I could have wrote this word for word. My FIL made a comment the other day about he has no idea where our money goes since we just don't have the money to buy another car at this point. Really? Are you kidding me??

Buckets of Moonbeams

We were so, so, so lucky to be recommended and (barely) qualified for California Children's Services.  They pay every dime of K's heart-related expenses, including her surgery and PICU stay.  It's a good thing too, because our insurance is crap and I think we'd have lost our home if not for CCS. 

harvest-wed

You should really look into getting social security disability benefits for her.  That is more skill dependent than income dependent, from what I have seen.

lacey_ja_r

Our Baby boy Rowan (still in the NICU) has qualified for social security benefits, thus has caused him to qualify for medicaid.  We were just barely on the income line and we really wouldn't come close to surviving without medicaid.  So we decided that I wouldn't go back to work.  I hate this because I loved my career (teaching) and I will probably never get to go back again(because we don't want to lose the medicaid.

And with twins my teaching salary wouldn't really cover the cost of daycare for them both anyway.

Like PP said we will be reevaluated when he goes home to see what $ amount we will receive a month to help pay for his everyday needs.  I hope all works out but we are VERY new to this.