Finally, my special needs child is under the health insurance that allows her
to avail of specialist services under one roof, YAI - from the Paediatrician and
Psychiatrist to the Dentist and Podiatrist.
It has been a long, arduous trek finding ourselves to this place in our
journey.
to avail of specialist services under one roof, YAI - from the Paediatrician and
Psychiatrist to the Dentist and Podiatrist.
It has been a long, arduous trek finding ourselves to this place in our
journey.
When we first came to New York we had to shop for household items and our
friends would drive us to the home goods / furniture shops. On one of those
drives going to Long Island I noticed a building with a very big sign just a
little distance from our own neighborhood – YAI. Its logo is unusual perhaps, and
it's huge; probably that's how it got my attention. Of course, that time, I
didn't know what that building was and what it would mean to us.
friends would drive us to the home goods / furniture shops. On one of those
drives going to Long Island I noticed a building with a very big sign just a
little distance from our own neighborhood – YAI. Its logo is unusual perhaps, and
it's huge; probably that's how it got my attention. Of course, that time, I
didn't know what that building was and what it would mean to us.
However, when she started attending school, we were
advised by the staff at her school to get a case manager for her, to help us
get the government support available for special needs children like her. We
were also told that YAI is the best known organization to seek help from. And
so, soon after, we made our first visit to the nearest YAI branch, and it
happened to be the one right there in our neighborhood, that same big building
with that stand-out logo – YAI. A number
of evaluations had to be done on my daughter to establish her disability, and so,
more visits ensued in the months that followed.
We soon became more familiar with this organization.
advised by the staff at her school to get a case manager for her, to help us
get the government support available for special needs children like her. We
were also told that YAI is the best known organization to seek help from. And
so, soon after, we made our first visit to the nearest YAI branch, and it
happened to be the one right there in our neighborhood, that same big building
with that stand-out logo – YAI. A number
of evaluations had to be done on my daughter to establish her disability, and so,
more visits ensued in the months that followed.
We soon became more familiar with this organization.
As new immigrants in this country, and with my husband and I
being unemployed, our first concern was to get into the health insurance system
here, as health care here in the US is very expensive. We are kind of "lucky",
I would say blessed, that just months
before we came here, Pres. Obama instituted reforms in the health care
system here, making health insurance affordable to everyone (in March 2010).
Although until now voters and legislators alike continue to challenge and question
these health care reforms, I would unabashedly say that we new immigrants are
among the immediate beneficiaries of these reforms. For one thing, before we
could enroll our high and middle-schooling kids, we needed to get a TB-immunity
certification for them and a physical exam, as well (the ones we obtained
abroad, though recent they were, didn't count). So, to get a physician to see
them, we needed to get health insurance so we wouldn't have to pay a fortune for
those services. And so, that's what we
did. After that, the next step was to get a primary health care provider (i.e.
General Practice Doctor) for each one of us in the family. But because our special-needs daughter
has so many medical issues requiring immediate attention, I ended up bringing
her to see so many specialists / doctors in different hospitals and clinics,
each time making sure those professionals and institutions were under the
coverage of the health insurance we chose.
being unemployed, our first concern was to get into the health insurance system
here, as health care here in the US is very expensive. We are kind of "lucky",
I would say blessed, that just months
before we came here, Pres. Obama instituted reforms in the health care
system here, making health insurance affordable to everyone (in March 2010).
Although until now voters and legislators alike continue to challenge and question
these health care reforms, I would unabashedly say that we new immigrants are
among the immediate beneficiaries of these reforms. For one thing, before we
could enroll our high and middle-schooling kids, we needed to get a TB-immunity
certification for them and a physical exam, as well (the ones we obtained
abroad, though recent they were, didn't count). So, to get a physician to see
them, we needed to get health insurance so we wouldn't have to pay a fortune for
those services. And so, that's what we
did. After that, the next step was to get a primary health care provider (i.e.
General Practice Doctor) for each one of us in the family. But because our special-needs daughter
has so many medical issues requiring immediate attention, I ended up bringing
her to see so many specialists / doctors in different hospitals and clinics,
each time making sure those professionals and institutions were under the
coverage of the health insurance we chose.
That was fine, for a
while, until we needed to bring her to the dentist. Our daughter never had trouble
having to see a dentist, but apparently, being a teenager now, fairly
strong and already having a mind of her own, she has started showing
resistance, or I'd say, un-cooperation when at the dentist's clinic. The dentist
happened to have worked for YAI before and once again, we were referred to YAI,
this time for her dental treatment. He explained to us that YAI's Premier
Health Care Center doesn't just provide health services, they also are equipped
with total support for the medical treatment of special needs people. i.e.,
they have people who can restrain special-needs patients down, when they
over-react under medical treatment. Of course, we wanted that for our daughter but we
also found out that for her to avail of the Premier Health Care services, she
has to be under a different health insurance company. And so, we had to dis-enroll
her from our family's health insurance company and enroll her with the one that
covers YAI's Premier Health Care. That sounds simple enough simply because I can no longer recall every detail as to how many professionals we had to talk with / make phone calls to, or places we had to make trips to, not to mention the awful circumstances my daughter and I had to go through, before we finally arrived at this stage. So by and large, that's the story of
how we finally got into YAI. Sure enough, YAI has become more like
a neighbor's home for us now, at the rate that we frequent that place. And
thank God, it's just nearby.
while, until we needed to bring her to the dentist. Our daughter never had trouble
having to see a dentist, but apparently, being a teenager now, fairly
strong and already having a mind of her own, she has started showing
resistance, or I'd say, un-cooperation when at the dentist's clinic. The dentist
happened to have worked for YAI before and once again, we were referred to YAI,
this time for her dental treatment. He explained to us that YAI's Premier
Health Care Center doesn't just provide health services, they also are equipped
with total support for the medical treatment of special needs people. i.e.,
they have people who can restrain special-needs patients down, when they
over-react under medical treatment. Of course, we wanted that for our daughter but we
also found out that for her to avail of the Premier Health Care services, she
has to be under a different health insurance company. And so, we had to dis-enroll
her from our family's health insurance company and enroll her with the one that
covers YAI's Premier Health Care. That sounds simple enough simply because I can no longer recall every detail as to how many professionals we had to talk with / make phone calls to, or places we had to make trips to, not to mention the awful circumstances my daughter and I had to go through, before we finally arrived at this stage. So by and large, that's the story of
how we finally got into YAI. Sure enough, YAI has become more like
a neighbor's home for us now, at the rate that we frequent that place. And
thank God, it's just nearby.
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