Medical grants being made available to Georgia children through UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation

ALBANY — The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF) 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 their 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, officials with UHCCF said.

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. Officials said 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.

In 2013, UHCCF awarded more than 1,700 medical grants, worth $5.6 million, to children and their families across the U.S. for treatments associated with medical conditions such as cancer, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, hearing loss, autism, cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and cerebral palsy. Since 2011, UHCCF has awarded more than 200 grants in Georgia, officials 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,” said UHCCF President Matt Peterson.

The books “Oliver & Hope’s Adventure Under the Stars” and “Oliver & Hope’s Amusing Adventure” are available on Amazon.com for $13.95 each. Officials said proceeds from UHCCF products, including the “Oliver & Hope” books, help fund UHCCF grants. Organizations and private donors can also 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.

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