it's not based on the child's income but on the income of the household. This holds true for supplemental medicaid, full coverage medicaid, and SSI-D. I have run the gauntlet (qualify, make $6 too much one month and have to change programs...state vs federal - you name it!).

Also remember, any agency is still made up of 'people'.
If you can keep this in mind when talking with the case worker(s), it can make a world of difference.
For a minute, step out of your own role and look at their's ... day in day out they have to deal with angry and frustrated clients.
I have found that if I can approach them with kindness, and ask for help, they will do everything in their power to help me.
Find out the income guidelines, every state has them. Just ask your worker.
And yes, medicaid is determined by the parent's income, but many states have supplimental programs that offer services to children with higher income allowances.
Keep your chin up, it is always work, lots of work, but the end result is really what you are after.
Go with the flow, accept the challenges and things will work out ...

No no no no. You can get a medicaid waiver that disregards your income when you have a child with a diagnosis like autism. That's why I've been so frustrated when I've heard parents say that their child got a diagnosis of PDD-NOS, because THAT diagnosis doesn't qualify for the waiver.

Rob, your household income should have ABSOLUTELY ZERO to do with Molly's medicaid services if she has a diagnosis. You may have to take her back to a developmental pediatrician or psychologist or qualified diagnostician, or whoever, but once you have a disgnosis in your hand, they will give you the waiver. Your child is disabled, and these services are HUGELY VALUABLE towards giving her a normal life. Don't let them bully you.

Hey, I just found this place :) This is Mandie, Rob's wife

Here's the deal. Indiana has Traditional Medicaid, or Medicaid for Aged and Disabled (MAD), for which Molly qualifies medically and possibly financially, we don't know. (Can you see my eyes rolling from over there?)

There is also a waiver system which waives the income cap for certain disabilities. We applied 4 years ago for the Autism waiver, which at that time had an 8 year waiting list. I am pretty sure it's longer now. I am guessing that even if her name came up she wouldn't get it because she would get an "Autism Spectrum" diagnosis, and not classical autism.

There is a Developmental Disability waiver, she's on that waiting list too. And because those waiting lists were so long, they added something called the Support Services waiver, which was supposed to be interrim support for people waiting on the other lists. It's less $, but it's something. We do have a waiver case manager, and he's great, we had a budget and everything, but, no waiver, damnit.

Molly was approved for the SS waiver and then yanked off, as Rob said. Meanwhile, we applied and were approved for MAD. We've re-certified for this every year, given them all our income information, so we assumed we qualified as under the income cap. During this time she was passed around from one case worker to another. Eventually someone noticed she doesn't have a waiver. I don't know why they didn't know this before. This guy who discovered it basically refuses to return our phone calls. We have received letters announcing phone interview times (not optional ones) and then HE DOESN'T CALL. It's so f*&^ aggravating.

We talk to a supervisor, they ask for some more documentation of some thing or another. We wait a week, call back, leave messages, nothing. Then we get a message saying it's transfered AGAIN to someone else. GAAHH!

I get that they are people to but these people are NOT HUMAN. I've dealt with lots of people at SSI and FSSA and they've all been much better than this. What are we supposed to do if they won't call us back? Supervisors don't call back. It's ridiculous and unacceptable. Meanwhile Molly is not getting therapy. (It's OT, not PT, not that it matters) We are now writing to our state representative to see if he can get them to do something. If that doesn't work, we're going to the news.

I don't believe anyone has been approved for Support Services in the past 3 years, and I'm pretty sure our *&^*$ governor is going to cut it. The very first thing he did when he went into office is cut medicaid.

So, we're still screwed, basically.

Another Medicaid whirlwind of chaos, our dear home state has restricted any medicaid money from leaving NC, so I am in the process of finding a way to fund another heart surgery in Michigan. We are on number 6, with the two most recent in Michigan, we have a very fine surgeon up there.
If I can't swing it, we will have to stay in state and take our chances. I am at ease though and hoping that we will find a way to pay for this. The hospital where I work has insurance that will pay 50% .. wish modern medicine and humanity were not so disparate.