finances

Unexpected Delivery

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Here in Maryland, we have this wonderful thing called LISS, otherwise known as Low Intensity Support Services.  I’ve written about it before – LISS is a means for people with disabilities to receive funding for items not covered by insurance.  This year, Maryland lowered the limit to $2000 (from $3000) to cover more individuals, and there are now two lotteries for coverage – one in July and one in January – instead of a first-come-first-served system in July.

The problem, despite this seemingly more fair system… is that none of us know what in Heaven’s name is going on. Continue reading →

Extending the LISS Lifeline

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After the debacle that was the LISS funding process this year, the state of Maryland conducted a survey to talk about how the program could be improved (shy of, say, giving LISS more money).

For those readers who don’t remember – LISS, or Low Intensity Support Services, is the program that gives funding to individuals coping with disabilities to cover things that are not covered by insurance.  For us, this can include the Monster’s summer camp, or his adaptive gymnastics at Rebounders, or music therapy, or the like. Continue reading →

Revisiting – Paying For It

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Last week, my open enrollment for health insurance through my employer opened.  This was coupled with getting a robocall from the Monster’s school on Friday night, asking why we’d not submitted paperwork for the free-or-reduced-price lunch program.

Both of these come from the whole, complex issue of “paying” for the Monster’s Autism. Continue reading →

“Free” and Appropriate

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Two weeks from Monday, the Monster returns to school.

Since we’ve been a little out of touch with the school this summer – or at least that’s how I’m feeling, to some extent – the wife reached out to the Monster’s teacher to get a list of school supplies for the coming year in the Together We Grow Kindergarten class.  Most of the list really isn’t all that surprising to me… but still. Continue reading →

Paying for Autism

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A couple of weeks ago, back on July 1st, the new fiscal year began in Maryland, which meant that applications for Low Intensity Support Services opened for funding for FY2014.

By the end of the first day, Southern Maryland was done accepting applications for the year.  Where we live, in Central Maryland, the wife went into a panic when she was warned a week later that applications would shortly be closing for our area due to similar demand.  (She actually drove the forty minutes each way to hand-deliver our application so it would be there before the newly-imposed July 15th deadline.  LISS does not permit applications to be sent by fax or email – they have to be hand-delivered or sent via US Postal Mail.)  And we’ve come to the conclusion that we’re likely not to get any LISS funding for FY2014. Continue reading →

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

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For those who don’t know, my wife does read my postings every day to see what I’ve said.  While we were on our evening walk last night, we briefly discussed what I’d written yesterday and her impressions on it.  (It’s a good self-check for when I also have a different impression than she.)

And while we were discussing the matter, something very prescient was said.  She had, earlier the day, run to the bank and made a deposit of some large bills (from doing focus groups at a nearby company) and a check we’d received for our anniversary, and her thoughts on it were: Continue reading →