Bridge the Gap for Gilbert

My name is Shannon Ontiveros. I am a single mother of two young adult children who both live at home. My daughter Veronica just turned 21 years old and is a full time college student at  The University of Kearney Nebraska in the Social Work Program.  My son Gilbert is 19 years old and just Graduated from High School this year.
We have had several ups and downs throughout their lives but with faith, God has always taken care of us. I have overcame many obstacles as a teen mother and pushed through adversity, beating statistics and proving anything is possible no matter what. Things have never been easy but with hard work and  perseverance we have always had what we needed.  

I am a Juvenile Probation Officer for the State of Nebraska. I have been with the State of Nebraska for 3 years. I consider myself a productive member of society. I work hard, pay my taxes, pay my bills, give to others when I can, and live by spiritual principles. In doing so I pay for premium family health, dental, and vision insurance, spending close to $400 per month, which has always felt good as a mother to know that if my children were in need of medical treatment they would be taken care of and I would financially be ok. Unfortunately that is not always the case. There is a gap! The small print exclusions on procedures, even when it’s medically  necessary, can leave you feeling hopeless and powerless.  Which is what happened to us this year. 

My son, Gilbert Ontiveros,  suffers with mandibular skeletal deficiency,  which has put him in a compromised  Malocclusion with a constricted airway.   The surgeon has explained that overtime Gilberts bite will worsen, with wear on the posterior teeth and  continued collapse of his bone structure. His bite will continue to deepen and he will start to lose his bone support for his front teeth.  His skeletal  imbalance  cannot treat his malocclusion with orthodontics alone and requires a medically necessary jaw surgery.   We have been told that a combined orthodontics and orthognathic surgery treatment  is our only option in order to correct Gilberts problem. There is no other choice but to follow through with this plan in order for us to have a long-term solution to prevent further damage and relieve all the issues that Gilbert has had to deal with over the years including jaw pain, difficulty chewing, headaches and trouble breathing while he sleeps.  

We began the treatment plan On July  17th, 2018 when his wisdom teeth were removed and Braces were applied to start moving his teeth in preparation for his Jaw surgery. Although we had known since middle school that a intensive treatment plan would eventually be needed, Gilbert was almost 18 years old at this time, as the process of treatment was put off as long as the doctor could, giving Gilbert’s bone structure growth time to slow down through adolescence. As we all anticipate, orthopedics was not covered and we had prepared to pay the $7,707.00 out of pocket. Setting up financing of $235 money payments Beginning September 15, 2018 through August 15, 2020. Thinking this was the only part of the treatment plan that would not be covered under my healthcare coverage.
However in September 2108, we received the first denial from United Healthcare for the major jaw surgery in the treatment plan.
I was instantly fearful and the doctors reassured me that this was a medically Necessary surgery and they would help me through the appeals process. As a team we wrote letters, my HR department made phone calls and I reached out to every community resource I could think of to get help, however after submitting  all available appeals, we were given our Official DENIAL.  


Feeling Defeated and Fearful,  I’m reaching out for HELP! The treatment plan is not a choice, it’s absolutely needed. The surgeon and Hospital has put together a discounted self pay amount that has to be paid prior to Jaw surgery which is scheduled for January 13, 2020. He will than have one final procedure once braces move his teeth to their final position, to place in two implants, completing the treatment plan.  Both surgeries will total approximately $37,000 which is all self pay.


We are still paying $235 per month for braces and now will have a $600 payment per month for the loan of $37,000 we had to take out for his surgeries. My Son will be helping me pay these payments after his recovery time of 6-8 weeks, but it breaks my heart that I’m incapable of doing this myself. He is a young 19 year old boy who should be thinking about going to college or buying a car, not having a medical bill of $37,000 to be paid over the next 6years.

I am begging for your generosity, anything you are able to help with would so greatly be appreciated and will be put straight towards the loan. Asking for help has never been my strong suit but for my family I am sitting my pride aside and asking PLEASE BRIDGE THE GAP FOR GILBERT!