Shriner's Hospitals-OMG, they are so MUCH MORE than I Realized!

[barkley]

i've long been aware of the shriner's hospitals for children-and referred people to their staff when they were seeking out information or assistance on programs to help medicaly in need children. i used their staff as a resource when i worked for social services-they were so knowledgable about charities and organizations that could help when insurance was non existant or simply inadequate to meet a child's needs.

i always knew they would never turn a child away based on inability to pay-but i had assumed that the reason they had such knowledgeable staff was so that they like other charitable hospitals could assist patients in accessing whatever coverage they had prior to defaulting to a non payment status. i had a personal experience with shriners today-and i have to say-they are the epitomy of what a CHARITABLE institution should aspire to.

long story short-dd has an orthopedic issue that only a pediatric orthopedist can competantly handle. we are out of state on vacation-only ped. orthos in the area are with shriners. i managed to get dd referred into shriners-and when they called to get our info. for an appointment i was surprised to find that they did'nt want any of our insurance information. when i inquired as to why i was told that not only will shriners never deny care to a child based on an inability to pay-SHRINERS WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY FORM OF PAYMENT FOR ANY SERVICES A CHILD RECEIVES IN THEIR HOSPITALS yes, despite having insurance, despite being able and willing to pay for dd's care-shriners wil not permit us to pay. they are set up such that if they determine a child will benefit from their services, and accept the child into their facility it is at no cost whatsoever. the only time private insurance comes into play is if a service outside the hospital is needed-and then staff will assist in getting the appropriate pre-approval from insurance.

all i can say is 'god bless the shriners'

 

[WildGrits]

Thats' incredible. I too had no idea.

 

[dclfun]

Actually that policy makes no sense. If they accepted what insurance someone does have and used that first ( since it would not make a family have OOP expenses) then they'd have many more funds available to help more children ( or include adults, who basically get nothing anywhere). MDA, for instance, tries to maximize it's resources and expects each person requesting assistance to use their own insurance first.---Kathy

 

[SueM in MN]

A collegue of mine was the Infection Control Specialist at a Shriner's Hospital.
She did sometimes feel like they could do a lot more if they did take insurance, but they never had and it is the Shriner's charity, so I guess if that's how they want to do it, that's how it's done.
One of the advantages for the Shriners is that they don't have to have a department that deals with insurance and insurance companies (which can be a real pain for people who need care for a long time like many of the Shriner's patients do).

Anyway, here's a link to the Shriner's Hospitals website. Like barkley mentioned, the only requirement is that the child have some condition that particular Shriner's Childrens Hospital is likely to be able to help with.

 

[pugdog]

The circus is their biggest fundraiser.
They have never and will never accept insurance. They would much rather just have their members and others donate then deal with insurance compaines. They feel that insurance compaines just slow down the process. They have been doing this since 1922 and seem to be doing just fine this way.

 

[michelle9343]

My DD goes to Shriner's in Tampa. While they do not take insurance they will have you attemp to have your insurance take care of certain things. My daughters WC needs modification and Shriners wrote up a script for it. Well 4 monhs later her insurance company still has not approved. If they wont take care of thing Shriners will then do the modification themself. I think Shirners is the most incredle place we have ever taken Angelina. The staff was wonderful .

 

[daughtersrus]

My DD (13yo) has been going to Shriners in Chicago for many years. The only thing that our insurance has to pay for is her AFO braces that are made at a private lab near the hospital and any special tests like MRI, CT...that would need to be done at Loyola (a local teaching hospital). Anything left after insurance pays on these items are covered by Shriners. They do not provide us with any of the medical equipment that my DD needs like her wheelchair, bath seat, feeding chair, hearing aids...

We do have health insurance but the policy is limited to $1 Million for her lifetime. I know that sounds like a lot but when we're talking medical bills, it really isn't. For example, she spent 10 days in the hospital with a serious post-op infection after cataract surgery. Those bills came to over $100,000. We also have a lot of other medical expenses like therapy ($327.00 for each 50 min session), her ENT, hearing aids, ophthalmologist, occularist, geneticist, medications...

If Shriners were to bill our insurance for everything that they've done, she would probably be very close to her life-time limit.

Many of the doctors at Shriners volunter. As a matter of fact, her Neuro is on staff at U of Chicago works goes to Shriners on Tuesdays. He prefers that we see him at Shriners since the wait at U of C is so long.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if Shriners billed insurance, they could probably see more patients but children like my daughter, might not be able to get the care that they need because they've reached the life-time max. for their policy.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if Shriners billed insurance, they could probably see more patients but children like my daughter, might not be able to get the care that they need because they've reached the life-time max. for their policy.

Thats what I was thinking

 

[stitchntiggertoo]

The Shriner's Hospitals are a wonderful thing. My brother went to them as a child. I didn't know they didn't accept insurance, but looking back my parent's insurance would have been maxed (he had 2-3 surgeries there) and I know my parents wouldn't be able to foot the costs by themselves. I have the utmost respect for the Shriners.

 

[barkley]

well we had our first appointment today-and i have to say, they are the most organized, kind and attentive people i've ever encountered in a medical environment.

after filling out the paperwork they explained that unless a service or supply that shriner's could'nt provide 'in house' was needed-they would not bill us or our insurance. and if one of those services was needed they would first contact our insurance company to get pre-authorization and ensure that we use one of their providers.

dd was examined, xrayed, and re-examined. everyone was very kind and clear-always making sure both she and i understood everything

what realy surprised me was when i simply inquired if there were some type of protective device i could purchase over the counter for her upper arm (so when she is in p.e. she could wear it just in case someone accidently bumped into her or hit her with a ball)-i was thinking something akin to those inexpensive wrist braces they sell at the store. a quick call from the pediatric orthopedist had us immediatly with the occupational therapist who looked over the situation and dd's arm-and designed and made ON THE SPOT a custom protective cover that she can easily take in her backpack and put on/take off as needed

i am very impressed with their facility and staff-and i give tremendous kudos to whomever came up with the concept of a rec. room that siblings (along with an adult in tow) can use while waiting for their sib to complete an appointment (both dh and ds were enthralled to FINALY get their hands on a wi ).

great organization-everything patient and parental care wise i could dream of.

 

[GroovyWheeler]

My mom and I both thought they were great, when I went there at ages 10/11, I think it was, for possible orthopedic surgery. Of course, my medical history and syndrome is so complicated for any medical professional to understand. I don't remember who I saw. But the first Shriners I went to, was in San Francisco. Then, my mom wanted to be "closer to home" so they transferred my medical records from there, to the Shriners in Portland. We were both amazed at their level of medical care, even though they had a tough time fitting me for orthopedic shoes.

Samantha

 

[pugdog]

i am very impressed with their facility and staff-and i give tremendous kudos to whomever came up with the concept of a rec. room that siblings (along with an adult in tow) can use while waiting for their sib to complete an appointment (both dh and ds were enthralled to FINALY get their hands on a wi ).

great organization-everything patient and parental care wise i could dream of.

Actually if you go to just about any children's specific hospital you will find sibling play rooms. Children's Hospitals learned long ago that you also need to treat the siblings and parents in addition to the patients. Thats also why you will usually only find child life specialists in children's hospitals.
And that is why I love to work at the local Children's Hospital here in town.

 

[Amaris]

My son goes to the one in PA for a very rare spinal condition. They are totally wonderful. They have referred us out to get mris, xrays on our own insurance when they can, but also hooked us up with top notch neurosurgeons. When we first went in they took all of our insurance info. They told us they ATTEMPT to bill for reimbursment but if they don't get it, they don't worry. We have never had a bill from them or worried about a bill. A place like this is amazing and people don't realize HOW amazing until they NEED it. We are very fortunate to have our child on their patient list.

 

[RACHELSMOM1]

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