State Program Lags In Providing Special Needs Children With Medical Equipment
Children who need wheelchairs, walkers, ventilators, leg braces, hospital beds and other equipment sometimes have to wait a year or more to receive it. “It seems unconscionable,” said Maryann O’Sullivan, the report’s author.
The California Health Report:
Special Needs Children Often Left Waiting For Medical Equipment, Report Says
Children with special needs often languish for months waiting to get needed medical equipment and supplies through a state health care program designed to help them, according to a new report. About 200,000 special-needs children receive health coverage through the California Children’s Services (CCS) program, which serves kids with chronic medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, cancer and traumatic injuries. Yet when children require medical equipment like wheelchairs, walkers, ventilators, leg braces and hospital beds, they sometimes wait a year or more to receive it, according to the report by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. (Boyd-Barrett, 5/16)