Warrior Jakes Therapy & Medicaid

The tiny warrior and suave bespectacled gent you see above are both my nephew; who has CP. The hand in the one picture is his Dad Chris – former Marine. This kid is a huge inspiration to me and really and truly a hero of mine for all he has been through and overcome. He’s had so many surgical procedures I just can’t even imagine. A finer young man or better soul you will not find. A little over a year ago, Jake had successful spinal and nerve cord surgery (pretty major stuff) to diminish the spasticity in his muscles that CP causes, which makes his legs constantly tight and not as responsive as he’d like. The surgery helped reduce the ‘spasm’ signals. After several weeks of intensive in-patient rehab, his medical team recommended four PT sessions per week outpatient. His awesome parents, my sister Debbie and her husband Chris, got him in for his PT. However, Medicaid would only authorize three times per week. OK, so be it. So Jake did three PT sessions per week and was making good progress. After a few months, the PT office notified Deb and Chris that Medicaid had refused to pay because the medical recommendation was for four times a week and Jake had only been getting three. Yes, that’s right: Medicaid knew it was for 4x/week but only authorized 3x/week, then denied what they themselves had approved. Despite providing Medicaid’s own papers authorizing only three weekly sessions, Medicaid has refused to pay out. The PT facility was trying to do the right thing and keep providing care to this awesome kid, and just thought Medicaid was taking longer than their usual process. Despite their being very kind and sympathetic, Jake cannot resume PT until the balance which is in the thousands is paid off.

Money is extremely tight right now in the Branan household, and there simply are no funds to pay off this debt. The progress Jake worked and fought so hard for with every passing week is fading; he is regressing despite home exercises which can’t replace the highly specialized eqiupment. We need to get him back into PT as soon as possible. Anything you can contribute to paying off this debt is much appreciated, and will help a most deserving young man to regain some of the ground he has lost. God bless you for your help.