As a nutrition expert, it should be up to me, the family and the healthcare team to decide on how best to treat these children and if nutrition is the ideal treatment, then it should be included as part of the child’s covered treatments. It is frustrating to have to delay or change care if nutrition therapy is not covered. This can worsen illness and also cause undue stress and harm to the child and their family.
Read moreMonth: May 2020
Tyler, MD from Idaho
I am a pediatric gastroenterologist and treat children with a variety of digestive conditions that require medical nutrition. I often see patients whose digestive conditions mandate that they be on special diets or supplements and yet these diets cannot be
Read moreCaroline, RD
As a provider, I know what is best for these patients and when covered, the results (i.e. improved absorption, reduced eosinophils, improved growth and weight gain) are nothing short of incredible.
Read moreNoah, Age 6
Coverage for medical foods would mean everything.
Read moreBethany, Age 19
Our BCBS does cover the Medical Formula for my daughter and does reimburse for low protein modified foods but this is never without a struggle. Michigan BCBS has their own form to submit for reimbursement for modified foods however it
Read moreAnnabelle, Age 4
Having medical food coverage would expand our daughter’s ability to try new and different foods. Her diet is supervised by a metabolic team of healthcare professionals at a specialized genetics/metabolism clinic in our state. This is not just for fun or because she wants to eat a certain way, This is to help her grow and develop properly.
Read moreJustin, Age 22
My husband has been trapped at that job his entire career because of the formula coverage for our son, that we can’t afford to walk away from. We have 3.5 years before he ages out of coverage. It is $24,000/yr, for life. The one formula that works for him is not covered by medicaid in our state. We are almost retirement age and plan to work as long as we can to pay for formula.
Read moreLiam, Age 1
Children without access to formula and medical food struggle to keep their levels stable and deal with a myriad of issues from attention issues to brain damage.
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