Other Strategies to Expand Health Care Benefits

Missouri enacted legislation to ensure that families do not have to relinquish custody of a child to the state in order to obtain mental health treatment or services.  The Department of Social Services offers voluntary placement for 180 days while the parent, legal guardian, or custodian of the child retains legal custody.  The Department of Mental Health conducts an assessment of the child and authorizes necessary services to meet the child’s mental health treatment needs.  The voluntary placement requires the commitment of a parent to be an active participant in their child’s treatment.

A private sector initiative, United Healthcare’s Children’s Foundation, receives funds from the United Healthcare Corporation, its employees, and other donors to address gaps in insur­ance coverage by paying for services that are not covered by a child’s commercial health insurance plan.  Applicants must be 16 years of age or younger, be U.S. citizens (of any state) and have employer-sponsored (including local, state, and federal governments) or individually purchased private (commercial) insurance coverage.  Children with public coverage (Medicaid, CHIP, etc.) are not eligible for funding.  

In 2006, Massachusetts created the Pediatric Palliative Care Network to provide a wide range of services to children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.  Through state funds, hospice services that are not covered by insurance are provided to children at no cost to the family through contracts with hospices. Unlike typical hospice care benefits, the pediatric palliative care funding does not require that treatment toward a cure be suspended, that the child have a six-month prognosis, or that child no longer receive care by his/her current medical caregivers.