Filling out the Katie Beckett Forms

[jacobsmom]

It's that time of year again--and I'm filling out the Katie Beckett forms. This year we have a home visit so that they can see DS8 and ask us all the questions I fill out on paperwork. This year they changed the forms on me AGAIN!!! I took them into school because I don't know the age he "tests" at or his ratings... this seems rediculous to me!! In our state they don't do testing on IQ etc. on special needs children because it doesn't accurately rate a lot of other things. I hate filling out everything by hand every single year. While I like our "moderator" these home visits seem kind of rediculous to me. DS isn't suddenly going to be walking independantly, "catch up" with the "normal" kids.... Considering I work in the school district and see kids abusing the system--why aren't they checking those kids??? I hate hearing about how we make too much to qualify for any assistance through other programs and then go through this constantly. Sorry I just need to vent a little.

 

[Momma2dakidz]

sorry you have to jump thru those hoops to get your son the help he needs. The reason for those hoops is some parents lie. There is a mom near me that has 5 children, only 2 are TRULY special needs, but guess what.....she has the waiver for all 5! UGH and then there are parents who get nooo help at all. makes me sick!

 

[barkley]

i know it's frustrating, but there are actualy some good reasons behind why those forms get changed so often and seem to ask totaly non applicable questions to situations in your state.

with medicaid driven programs the funding is realy complex. idealy states are providing the same if not greater services than the feds mandate so that the states can take advantage of fed funding which can change it seems overnite. sometimes the feds start offering funding for certain things and in order to access those funds certain demographic information has to be pulled from applicants and recipients to justify a state getting those funds. a state can also be allocating funds for certain needs and the only way to see if those needs are justified and accessable is also by getting the hard numbers via applications and renewal paperwork.

home visits are in actuality not about detecting fraud. more often than not home visits are a function of the quality assurance branch of h&ss. part of the funding allocation from the feds is driven by accuracy in staff administering programs. home visits are done in order to review the facts of the case and ensure that the workers are providing you with all you are entitiled to. while the information from these home visits is used for your redetermination of eligibility, the information is also reported to fed auditors to determine error rates. an unacceptable error rate can result in a state or county getting their share of funds decreased for a period of time and/or getting a financial penalty. some home visit staff is also trained to be able to make a visual assessment of the environment in order to determine if there are any needs that may not currently be addressed such that they need to advise you where to access additional services. i have'nt seen the forms in your state, but if they are similar to the ones we used in california then on the right hand side of each page you'll see a 'worker use' only strip that goes the length of the page and that's where the worker has to explain and document their action based on every response/answer you provide. one of the purposes of verbaly asking you the questions after you've filled out the paperwork is to ensure that you've answered the question correctly (cuz they word some of them so stupidly) so the worker can ensure that all the supporting docs and forms are in place to get you what you need. i can't tell you how many people are found to qualify for more than what they receive by virtue of reviewing the forms oraly face to face.

if it makes you feel any better-the instance of medicaid based program fraud is MUCH lower than any of the other public assistance programs-largly because in order to do it (for disabled or special need kids esp.) a person has to not only figure out how to do their fraudulent part, but they have to figure out how to find medical professionals who are willing to risk their professional standing to falsify diagnosis documentation. since katie beckett carries the requirement that a child meet the standards of disability that social security puts forth, and those standards are pretty narrow and strict-for someone to be defrauding that program they are either somehow sheltering their income and assets in a non legal manner (and there are ways to shelter allot of it legaly) or they are in colusion with a very disreputable medical provider

 

[LauraVV]

Here in IL we don't even have a Katie Beckett program. To be eligible for a waiver you have to have a trach/vent (medically fragile/technology dependent) or be totally unable to participate in your ADLs (which makes it tough to get that waiver for a child). The only waiver that isn't income or asset based is the trach/vent waiver.

 

[mom_2a_sept_princess]

We have been on the waiting list in CT for 2 years now. There are still about 25 kids ahead of us.

Maybe one day we will be lucky enough to actually get it.

Amy