McCall Move 2019/Managing With Micah
With this move there have only been a couple of pieces that we have been waiting to fall into place. Two days ago, a HUGE piece.. actually the only important one to me.. fell into place. Prayers, tears, and wondering have come from this piece.
Micah.
As some of you know if you follow this blog... special needs kids (mainly insurance issues) are 99.9% of the time NOT going to get the help they need when they need it. There's generally a ridiculous wait or exorbitant fees and the kids still don't get a fraction of what they ACTUALLY need. If you aren't a fan of our government switching to universal healthcare because of the "wait times" or "expenses" or whatever ridiculous thing it is.. even the "why should I pay more to take care of someone else that just sits around and mooches off the government.. doesn't have a job.. and doesn't have insurance... Why should I have to do more??"
Lemme tell you something.. My kid has 9-12 MONTH "wait times" just to be seen or have a foot in the door to what he really is needing. Our OUT OF POCKET "expenses" are about a 1/3 if not almost half of our income when insurance caps start to hit. We don't sit around because we can't afford to. We don't "mooch" off the government and instead are in a continual battle with them to offer basic assistance that as a government that is run by human beings that have moral consciences and are up on current events that they should automatically offer.. but they don't. We have JOBSSS (Yes, intentionally has that many S's). We HAVE insurance.. the best that we are allowed to get in the state.
And yet.
So since officially deciding on our move to Florida we have been frantically calling basically any autism schools or centers within an hour and a half (yes that's right) of where we will be living to try and find ANYTHING that's close to the level of assistance he's getting now. Most places were either closed (like shutdown because of lack of funding), a dramatic drop in hours (he does 40x hr/week in a year round setting now and most only offer 16x hr/week max in the FL schools), or had a 9-12 month wait list.
High schoolers have a shorter wait time to find out if they are getting into a college that isn't a necessity that they go to and they have numerous options to choose from. It's easier for kids to get into elite colleges than it is for my kid to get the education and therapy he NEEDS.
Two days ago (with the amazing help from Micah's current school and their connections) we got in contact with a place that isn't affiliated with but with how things are run they could basically be the twin to where Micah's going now. AND THEY DON'T HAVE A WAIT LIST. They said once we get our insurance sorted after we move he could start as early as October 1st.
Insert lots of tears and thankfulness.
Yesterday, I found out something that just only confirms that our move is by God and God alone. We have felt a little torn because we want to be able to take all of our Indiana friends and Micah's school and amazing therapists with us, but we can't. As some of you know from past posts, we've had issues with Micah's Indiana insurance and their lack of fulfilling the services that they said they would. Turns out we had a bigger monster that we didn't know was hiding in the background. We'd heard of Anthem insurance but what we didn't know was that this multi-BILLION insurance company has all but monopolized the private insurance scene for ALL of Indiana. Most insurances on some level have to even run through them. And Anthem... they've been busy the last couple of years... You want to know what they've been slashing to the bone? Take anything autism or special needs related and you'll be right on the money. Places like where Micah goes to school are having to close their doors because people like Anthem or making it virtually impossible for them to provide services. Therapists are having to quit and find new jobs in other fields.. not because they don't love our kids but because they have their own bills and getting pay cut after pay cut because Anthem is doing cut after cut isn't something they can do long term. And Anthem isn't slowing down and are about to make even more intensive cuts by the end of the year. Which means the help that these kids need is going to basically evaporate.
This is a fight that most parents don't even have to think about and all they have to "complain about" is the maybe $100 they have to spend on back-to-school supplies. Once a year. Maybe. "Why does the teacher need so many glue sticks or tissues?!" Well Carol, maybe she needs so many tissues so she can cry in the bathroom about how she's barely able to pay her bills even after working 2 other jobs after she teaches but she loves teaching kids so much she doesn't want to have to quit and get a different job much like the one you don't really have and you still have time to do hot yoga and get your nails done. Maybe she needs the glue to try and do projects with the kids to hang on the walls and from the ceilings even after she spent approximately $200-$500 (I've seen teachers say they've spent more) to try and make the classroom not look like prison walls and to give the kids a room in which they feel comfortable to learn in.
Take that kind of school system that you know and "love" and that for most was the one you attended and make it about 95% harder.. because for special needs schools they don't exactly get money from the state. Insurance plays a key role in their ability to have their doors open.
Our move has been confirmed over and over again.. but it is hard knowing that we're moving and they're so many kids like Micah and some with even more needs than he has that are going to be stuck having to be treated like less than and to suffer from the hands of adults that should be jailed for basically child abuse. CPS comes for kids that are seen as being neglected or abused and yet the one and only insurance company that is supposed to be taking care of these kids because it's all they have, is stripping their right to be taken care of the way they need to. It's child abuse. But yet, they are still legally allowed to continue what they are doing.
We have 16 days left. There's a lot to pack. There's a lot of people to say goodbye to. There's a lot that we feel like we're leaving behind. Not to mention the snow because I love a snowy Christmas... but 16 days. It feels like so much is happening and going to happen soon but our time is counting down and quickly. Also, I have like 9 weeks left in this pregnancy but I haven't really even been able to think about actually having her or doing any planning for when she's actually here because SO MUCH is happening before that.
So here's some more of our vacation pics because I feel like this was a loaded post and it needs some feel good moments now.
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