WA vax exemption help

[sassyaztec]

cross post from the vax forum.  Hoping someone can help me....

we just moved to Olympia and our school district told me I couldn't register until the end of the month. which was apparently the wrong information AND I just found out about this new law for vax exemptions. of course. Had I gotten the right info. we would have been done and ready to go (we moved here last month) but now I need to follow the new law guidelines.

Since we just moved we don't have a WA lic. family doctor and I don't have any RNP nurse-type friends to sign off on this form. Our new insurance (group health) won't allow us to go to a naturopath until we've already seen a reg. MD for the same issues.

Can someone brainstorm with me? I don't want to blindly call a dr and have them be totally anti-vax, but I have to get this done by the end of the month. It can be signed by a MD/DO/ND/AP/RNP. I have no clue about the area, what cheapy options I have, etc. I'm overwhelmed as it is with just unpacking and keeping the kiddos busy.

Thanks for any ideas/help! 

[xzaviers_mama]

Oh wow... this is new information to me!  When I enrolled my son in K and 1st grade, I just had to fill out that exemption form, but there was no  licensed healthcare provider signature required... 

Hmm.  I have a naturopath pediatrician, so she would gladly sign for me... but I'm not sure what you could do in your situation.  (We're homeschooling this year, so I'm not even going to need  her to sign for me.)  We also have group health, and I never had to see a regular MD.  Group Health wants you to see an regular MD for which issues?  I wonder if that's a new GH policy or something. 

It's ridiculous the hoops we have to jump through, just to do what we feel is best for our kids!

[jesbyr]

We're in the Olympia area too. We don't have Group Health but freinds of ours do and they recommend Dr. Hubbard. They say she is very open to non vaccination. Hope that helps!

[sassyaztec]

xzavier's mama- It's brand spankin new, as of July 22.  from my limited knowledge, you probably don't have to worry about it since your kids are already on file with the state.  this just applies to new students, so like all the people who are moving here and don't have WA doctors and need to totally scramble.  can you tell I'm bitter? ;) 

I can see a naturopath, but not as a PCP, just as alternative/supplemental care.  The ND I called said I could go to her, but only after seeking care by our reg. dr.  We have total cheapy insurance, so that might have something to do with it too.  But we are dealing with it to save some $$ for now.  At least we have insurance!  I'm pretty happy about that.

Jesbyr- Thanks for the tip.  I looked her up but she's not taking new patients. :(  I found these two that might work:

Davis, Bonnie J, MD family medicine

Larson, Lawrence A, DO ped and ped allergy 

 

My son has lots of allergy issues we need to explore some more, so I was thinking this might be better for us than us all having the same doc.  which is what we usually do.  Have you heard anything about either?  Any chance you could run those by your friends? 

[DahliaRW]

The other thing you could do is call your ND and ask how much it would cost out of pocket for you to come in and do the vax counseling for your kiddos.  The new law is a real pain.  I went ahead and got the sign off on all 3 of mine so I wouldn't have to bother again (unless the put a new required vax out).  But it is true, any existing exemption on file is grandfathered in.  But any new filing has to have the new form. 

Make sure you make copies of the signed forms and keep one for yourself for future times you need immunization forms turned in!  I have one set on file in our office, and I have a set in my car glove box so that if I ever need it on the go I can just go grab the one I need.

[sassyaztec]

so I just called the family doc and they made an appt. for us for monday.  I can take both kids and they said to just bring the forms in and it would be a good opportunity to get to know the doctor better.  we shall see...

On a side note, I couldn't even get the DO as our kids dr.  Only peds that are also PCPs were an option.  :(

I also called Dr. Hubbard's office just to make sure she wasn't accepting new patients and they told me she was actually getting ready to retire next month!  so that was totally out.  I'll report back on this dr. in case anyone else is looking for info.

[fireflies~for~me]

Can someone post a link for "the form".

Thx, mamas!

[sassyaztec]

Here's the page with all the info.  http://www.doh.wa.gov/cfh/Immunize/schools/vaccine.htm 

[fireflies~for~me]

thanks much!

[jadey]

If the Doc does not work out and you are looking for a cheap Naturopath visit, the Bastyr Center for Natural Health, where ND's are trained in seattle has $15 well child visits sometimes, I think they may be now. You see students who are supervised by an ND who can sign off on things. Each student team is on a shift with a specific doctor so you can look at the Doc profiles to see who specializes in pediatrics and get a shift with that doc.

Good Luck,

Jade

[sassyaztec]

great to know! My sis is in Seattle, so we go up there all the time anyway.  Thank you!

[SwanMom]

Hope everything went well for you.  I took the new form to our new pediatrician (old one retiring) at Group Health in Olympia & she signed them (I have 3 kids) for me, no questions asked--she didn't even offer me any propoganda.  She also signed the "temporary medical exemption" section.  But I think the philosophical one will be all we need from now on.  I didn't actually need to show the forms to anyone, though.  Daycare didn't ask.  School didn't ask.  And when I signed my son up for before-school care through the YMCA, they had the old form (no Dr. signature required).  I signed that form & mentioned to them that there is a new form, which was a surprise to them.  So I think people are slightly confused.

[sassyaztec]

everything went great.  Our new doc was great, asked me if I minded telling her what religion we were (I've ALWAYS done religious ex. since we've moved a lot), I didn't mind, UU, but she totally wasn't pushy at all. She said she wanted to make sure she had as many boxes filled up as she could so that they wouldn't bother us every time we came in. I liked her a lot.  We ended up doing annual exams for both kids, checked vision and hearing and it had been a while since we did full exams, so that was good.  Made my life a bit more crazy at the time, but now we have exams done and a referral for allergy testing for my son. so it's good.

As for the forms, I agree, not many people know the deal, but since we are totally new to the area, we have to have all types of forms on file.  We don't any "old forms" on file anywhere and can't be grandfathered in.  Since you have old forms already filled out, those would work for you until you had to register for something at a new organization.  Hope that make sense!

[meercat96]

I just moved to Bellevue and am looking for a local MD/DO/ND/AP/RNP who will be a family doctor for us as well as complete the exemption paperwork for my boys, who've just started school this week. I need to have the papers signed within the next few days. Can anyone make a recommendation?

[sassyaztec]

I'll ask my friend, she is up there near you.

[DahliaRW]

Originally Posted by meercat96 

I just moved to Bellevue and am looking for a local MD/DO/ND/AP/RNP who will be a family doctor for us as well as complete the exemption paperwork for my boys, who've just started school this week. I need to have the papers signed within the next few days. Can anyone make a recommendation?

If you're willing to drive 20-30 minutes east, I can't recommend Dr. Kathleen Allen more highly.  She's a great primary care provider and really good with vaccine stuff.  http://www.motherchildmedicine.com/

[whtelephant]

I just had to fill this out as well.  If you are doing a religious exemption there is no need for the Dr's sig, just fill in box 2.  It's if your doing personal/philosophical exemption, then you need the Dr's signature.  I've talked with our Dr about being no vax before, and she was cool with it, but I didn't want the hassle of scheduling an appt just for her to sign the form, so we did a religious exemption, because that applies to us as well.

[DahliaRW]

Originally Posted by whtelephant 

I just had to fill this out as well.  If you are doing a religious exemption there is no need for the Dr's sig, just fill in box 2.  It's if your doing personal/philosophical exemption, then you need the Dr's signature.  I've talked with our Dr about being no vax before, and she was cool with it, but I didn't want the hassle of scheduling an appt just for her to sign the form, so we did a religious exemption, because that applies to us as well.

The religious exemption without a Dr. Signature is only if you belong to a religion that is AGAINST MEDICAL CARE.  If not, you have to go see a doctor and get a signature.  You are not in complance with the law otherwise.  And since you mentioned that you see a Dr., you need to get the religious exemption with the doctors' signature.