help with medical cost

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Hello I am new here. I take care of my older brother who is 36 years old who has autism. I don't have any problems with his care the only problem we (my husband and I) are having right now is the ability to pay for him to have dental work done. My brother is on medicaid but in South Carolina you can only have dental work done on an emergency basis. He is eligible for what they call a medical waiver but if he receives this waiver he will no longer be able to go to his adult daycare program (this is not something that we are willing to give up because he loves going and it is the only break that I get from him and he form me). I am not asking for a handout I would just like some information on who to contact to help me find out who if any program out there that could help defray the cost of a full dental exam which must be preformed in the operating room under antistia. Thanks for all the help in advance

I am not at all familiar with the medical system in the States, being north of the border myself.

Is it possible, that since he is autistic, that you could talk to his case worker and get the exam done, as he would be unable to communicate any "emergancies"?

Failing that, a dental school may be able to help you.

Do you have any concerns about his teeth right now? Or do you just want the appointment because you are not confident he would communicate any potential problems...

I just took him to the dentist to have a tooth pulled because it had rotted all the way down to the gum. My brother is severely autistic and is non-verbal has a very high pain tolerance. The dentist told me to take him to a dental school and have his teeth cleaned and the necessary dental work done before his teeth get worse. I called the dental school and they told me it would be $165.00 just to walk in the door. They were unsure of how much the rest of the exams would be. My thing is I would like him to be able to keep his teeth for as long as he can because I know there is no way he would ever wear dentures.

yeah thats the problem with medicaid, no dental work for you unless its an emergency. i was on it, and that was likr one of the first things out of the workers mouth. i wish i could help you. good luck

*sigh*

It just seems like it is against human rights to do this too him. I agree, you have no hope of his wearing dentures, and with his special needs, you have no way of knowing if he has an "emergancy", as he can't communicate that.

There has to be someway of getting this dental work done as an "emergancy" since he more likely then not has issues right now, just can't communicate about it.

Maybe you could write into your local paper about it?

Go to your closest local branch of the National Autism Society. Tell the people your situation and ask if they can help in any way. I know for our local branch we have paid for medical expensives in extreme situations through donated funds that were already in place.