Link to article: http://news.health.ufl.edu/Post/ThePost_March08.pdf (PAGE 5)
Children’s Medical Services held its fi rst Legislative Day Feb. 1 in Gainesville to raise awareness about the organization’s programs and need for state funding. Here, State Rep. Larry Cretul (left) listens to speaker Tammy Caksackkar, a mother and advocate for the program
Published: March 2008, The POST, University of Florida Health Science Center
By Melissa M. Thompson
When Tammy Caksackkar’s son, Christian, needed a routine physical for school in 2004, she was shocked to learn it would cost her $1,700 and that her insurance wouldn’t cover the cost.
The single mom had no choice but to borrow money and go forward with the health screening required for her autistic son.
But like many parents of children with special needs, Caksackkar was overwhelmed by the financial strain caused by tests and medicinal therapies to help care for Christian. She learned three months later that the screening would have been covered under the umbrella of care provided by Children’s Medical Services.
“The hard part is I talk to at least 10 people a week who don’t know about CMS,” said Caksackkar, executive director of the Family Resource Coalition Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to children and youth with special health-care needs in Florida. “Now I go anywhere —Wal-Mart, Target, even Chuck
E. Cheese’s — and go into the whole spiel about what a great resource CMS is.”
Now an advocate for the program, Caksackkar shared her story in front of nearly 30 health-care professionals, community advocates and government representatives at the inaugural Children’s Medical Services Legislative Day on Feb. 1 at the CMS area office in Gainesville. The event aimed to raise awareness about CMS programs and the organization’s dire need for legislative support and funding.
Children’s Medical Services provides coordinated, managed health care for financially eligible children under 21 with serious or chronic physical, developmental or emotional conditions who require health-care services beyond what children generally require. The organization, which partners with UF physicians to provide health care for its patients, serves residents in all Florida counties from 22 area offices directed by board-certified pediatricians.
State Rep. Larry Cretul attended the event hoping to absorb all of the information CMS employees and families had to offer.
“I’m here like a sponge,” he said. “This has gotten a little more special to me now because I have a 6-month-old grandson. It really puts children’s health care in perspective.”
Thomas Chiu, M.D., the CMS North Central Florida regional medical director and a UF professor of pediatrics, said the future of CMS depends on the response from government representatives, whom he hopes will take the inspiring stories they heard during the event back to the legislative budget meetings for consideration. Chiu said the current budget for CMS is the same as it was 10 years ago, while the organization’s programs continue to expand. This means the workload for staff members has doubled while the number of filled staff positions is decreasing due to a hiring freeze.
“We lose good staff members who say they don’t want to leave, but are paid $10 (an hour) higher at a public health clinic,” Chiu said. “A lot of people are asking if CMS will disappear. We’re trying to find money for our programs, and it’s challenging. We’re doing this for the kids.”
