Johnson City Press
August 12th, 2014 1:17 pm by STAFF REPORTS

NASHVILLE — The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation is seeking grant applications from families in need of financial assistance to help pay for their child’s health care treatments, services or equipment not covered or not fully covered by a commercial health insurance plan.

Qualifying families can receive up to $5,000 per grant with a lifetime maximum of $10,000 per child to help pay for medical services and equipment such as physical, occupational and speech therapy, counseling services, surgeries, prescriptions, wheelchairs, orthotics, eyeglasses and hearing aids.

To be eligible for a grant, children must be 16 years of age or younger. Families must meet economic guidelines, reside in the United States and have a commercial health insurance plan. Grants are available for medical expenses families have incurred 60 days prior to the date of application as well as for ongoing and future medical needs.

Parents or legal guardians may apply for grants at www.UHCCF.org. There is no application deadline.

In 2013, UHCCF awarded more than 1,700 medical grants worth $5.6 million to children and their families across the United States for treatments associated with medical conditions such as cancer, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, hearing loss, autism, cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, ADHD and cerebral palsy. Last year, UHCCF awarded 70 grants totaling nearly $200,000 to families in Tennessee.

Gregory D. Reidy, CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s Mid-South Health Plan, said, “Thousands of children struggle every day for something many of us take for granted, our health. That reality is the driving force behind UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation’s mission to help families in need access medical care that will improve their child’s health. Our medical grants have already helped thousands of children in need, and we are looking to help thousands’ more children in the future.”

To help raise funds for its child medical grant program, UHCCF has published a new children’s book, “Oliver & Hope’s Adventure Under the Stars.” The second book in the Oliver & Hope series, the book follows last year’s award-winning book, “Oliver & Hope’s Amusing Adventure.”

Both books are available on Amazon.com for $13.95 each. The first 250 people who purchase an “Oliver & Hope’s Adventure Under the Stars” book will receive a Chewie the English bulldog plush toy.

Organizations and private donors may make tax-deductible donations to UHCCF at www.UHCCF.org. Donations are used for grants to help children and families in the region in which they are received.

For more information on UHCCF, visit www.UHCCF.org.