Cerebral Palsy Research Paper

Words: 611
Pages: 3

Families also go through many financial problems when it comes to their child having cerebral palsy. All of the therapies, doctors appointments, braces, wheelchairs, and special needs equipment adds up. In total it would cost a person $921,000 to care for a child with CP throughout the child’s whole lifetime (“Costs of”). This can be broken down into three parts: indirect, direct medical, and direct non-medical. The indirect cost is about $742,326 in a lifetime. The indirect cost is the money that is lost from the inability to work due to CP. The direct medical expenses averages to about $93,942. These costs are based on the severity level of CP and differ for each level. Most include regular visits to the doctor, therapy, medication, surgery, and treatment for co-occurring disorders (Devine). Finally the direct non-medical costs totals to about $84,742. These costs include such things as modifications to one’s house and/or vehicle, special education centers, or other special living arrangements made for the child. However, all of these expenses do not include things such as visits to the emergency room, lost time at work due to taking care of the child, and …show more content…
One of the ways that helps with the cost of CP is Medicaid. “Medicaid is a health insurance program for families and individuals that have low incomes. It’s a government insurance plan that provides access to health services to qualifying persons in all 50 states that do not have the resources to pay out of pocket for such services” (“Medicaid for”). Medicaid is one of the best insurances that helps families with financial costs of cerebral palsy. “If we didn't have Medicaid for Ryson we would be in debt by $100,000's of dollars. Between surgeries, clinic visits, botox, and special needs equipment. It's just overwhelming to think how much ‘Ryson’ costs” (Furness,