North Carolina’s new specialized insurance plan for children in foster care created obstacles for an 8-year-old girl seeking advanced cancer treatment, illustrating broader problems with foster care Medicaid plans across multiple states. Ollie Super, diagnosed with neuroblastoma as a toddler in foster care, had her cancer return late last year. Her parents, who adopted her in 2020, attempted to enroll her in a clinical trial using CAR T-cell therapy—which genetically reprograms a patient’s white blood cells to fight cancer—at UNC Health in Chapel Hill, which her mother described as Ollie’s “last option.”
In December, Ollie became one of hundreds of thousands of children nationwide enrolled in a specialized managed care plan for the foster care system, part of Medicaid. North Carolina is one of 14 states with such specialized foster care plans. However, when UNC Health’s financial office told the family in early March that the state’s new insurance, called Healthy Blue Care Together, would not cover the treatment, it created months of uncertainty.
North Carolina’s specialized insurance plan, costing the state $3.1 billion over four years, experienced significant rollout problems. Thousands of doctors whose services were covered under Medicaid were not included in the plan when it launched December 1. UNC Health, a state-run health system with nearly 4,400 physicians, would not initially sign on, but reached an agreement in mid-March with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.
Other states have struggled with similar issues. Texas, which established its plan 18 years ago, found foster families had difficulty finding doctors accepting the insurance. Florida reported lack of providers in 2016. Illinois faced investigation by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services over access to care, and California’s plan did not provide children with adequate mental health services. Georgia’s access problems prompted pending legislation calling for children to be removed from the plan.
After two months in limbo, the Supers prepared for CAR T-cell therapy treatments with reliable health insurance coverage. Ollie’s procedures carried multimillion-dollar price tags, but having bills seamlessly covered allowed the family to focus on treatment.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/foster-children-state-health-insurance/