The denials can spoil chances to develop at home, at school and into productive adults.

“It’d be nice if they just talk to each other and say, ‘Hey, we’re not going to cover this, so will you?’”įamilies across Kansas find themselves in similar bureaucratic dead zones, unable to get critical medical devices. But only after Blue Cross puts its denial in writing. That passes the buck to Aetna.Īetna might pay the $5-6,000 cost for a standing frame. Miles is covered by overlapping plans - his parents’ Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City policy and a second one managed by Aetna from the Kansas Medicare program, KanCare.īlue Cross says it doesn’t cover standing frames. With that, Miles might walk one day.īut insurance won’t pay. What their son really needs now is a standing frame to learn how to stand and build leg muscle. “It’s just too hard to take him up and down the stairs,” Abby Hoffman said. The coat closet in the front hallway is filled with Miles' medical supplies. “He eats through a G tube (a gastrostomy tube used to deliver food and medication directly to the stomach), has a tracheostomy tube in his throat. “He has some vision problems,” Neil Hoffman said.

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