WBV, new doctors, questions..

[ursaminor]

Okay, so my DS is just now 9 mo. He is not vaxed and hasnt been to a WBV since he was 4 months. He is on Medicaid and though I was sent one WBV reminder in the mail, we were in between homes for about 2 months or so during a move across the state.

So, I found out I needed to enroll him in a new Medicaid HMO plan before he gets auto enrolled and auto assigned to a ped. I pretty much had to arbitrarily choose a new ped for him on the spot over the phone due to lack of decision time.

Has anyone with medicaid, skipped WBVs? Now that we are rooted in a new town, with a new ped, I am not sure skipping WBV will fly with our Medicaid. Also, The last thing I want to do is go to our first appointment and have to break it to the ped that we dont vax. Should I call ahead and let them know, or ask if they will even provide care for my son since he is not vaxed?

I just got on medicaid myself. I am planning on getting on the same HMO as my son and maybe I can find a family physician for the both of us.

[slinden]

i am in almost this very situation myself, oddly enough. i would be interested in hearing others' experiences as well!

[luv-my-boys]

is it possible to change providers since you havent seen them yet? if so I would call and look up all the HCP on medicaids list and see what their office "philosophy" is like. Perhaps there is one you would be comfortable with.

If you are not able to change or must having a waiting pd (not sure how medicaid works) then I would go to the visit and inform them that you dont vax. That way you at least get that out of the way so that you can continue with your coverage, you can always inform medicaid that the provider dosent see unvaxed children(if that is the case) so you can change. I would think there would be an exception if that were the case for you to change providers.

[SageR]

We have Medicaid. With my first ds I went to all the WBV, but with my second son we stopped at 6 months and now we'll go annually or as needed. I haven't heard a thing from anyone about it.

Definitely check your list to see if there are any family doctors. When I enrolled my ds I ended up switching us all over to a GP instead of having a ped for the kids. It is really really lovely to have a family doctor! When you all see the same person it takes a lot less time to get to know them and vice versa. Our doctor is fine with not vaccinating - the only thing he told me was if we ever wanted them to let him know in advance because he doesn't keep them in the office

[tanyalynn]

If you have a list to choose from, I'd work down the list and call, not provide my name, just say I'm new to the area and do they accept unvaccinated children?

[bbrandonsmom]

I've never had a problem. Medicaid has never asked me. I got a card once that a wbv was due, but that was it. They never asked for vax stats. I went to most of ds1's wbv, but then started to space them out. Ds2 only went to a few. Another mdc momma made a good point about having it on record to go to wbv, espcially if you don't vax, to show we are at least taking them to check ups etc.
I wouldn't even call ahead. Just let them pick a dr unless you can stay w/ your ped now. You should be able to change it-they'll send you a book to pick from. When you get there, inform them you don't vax. If you have an exemption, they shouldn't bother you about it at the ped.

[ursaminor]

Thank you so much everyone for your help. I am going to now find out if i can switch my DS's ped and look for a family practice! Thanks again