Refusal of govt services because of non-vaxing?

[Robin926]

Hi, all. I have a 9 m/o non-vaxed baby. I recently discovered that we live in one of the only TWO states in the US that does not allow religious exemptions to vaxes. We'd been counting on a religious exemption all along. I also have learned that you can be refused govt services, like WIC or Medicaid, if you refuse to vax. We receive both of those. DH's insurance through work is $1200 a month, and there's no way we can afford that! The WIC office has asked me on a couple of occasions about the vaxes, and I explained that we were doing delayed, selective and they didn't push it any further.

Has anyone had a problem with this, or know if it's a prevalant thing? We really couldn't afford to lose Medicaid, but I absolutely would not vax my son just to keep it. We'd find another way.

TIA!

[Luckyinlife]

Hi!

What state are you in???

[greyskye]

bcbs private individual coverage costs me abou 215 a month to cover myself and my little one. we have a 500 dollar dedeuct. for major medical.

otherwise its 25 reg 50 specialist

[desertpenguin]

Yikes! We're on medicaid as well and I've worried about this, but didn't know that they could actually legally deny you for refusing vax. We stopped going to WIC because it didn't seem worth the gas it took to go to the office to get the checks and have to deal with all the hassle for being non vax. I'm paranoid about CPS too.

[mother nurture]

Originally Posted by desertpenguin

Yikes! We're on medicaid as well and I've worried about this, but didn't know that they could actually legally deny you for refusing vax. We stopped going to WIC because it didn't seem worth the gas it took to go to the office to get the checks and have to deal with all the hassle for being non vax. I'm paranoid about CPS too.

we get medicaid too. We gave up WIC b/c we only used it for the electric breast pump since we do organic. We couldn't afford to loose medicaid. We can't even afford for me to have good health insurance right now. I have more of a casualty plan. I haven't been worried about CPS, should I??? My dr's office seems to be understanding-"It is your decision as the parent." But, when I called the other day (they had called to schedule a WBC) I called to say I would come, but no vaxing they DID ask what insurance I would be using!!!??? hmmm...now I'm all paranoid

[Robin926]

Ack, I didn't mean to make everyone paranoid!! I just didn't know about it until I was looking at the state laws the other day, and stumbled across this info. I was just wondering if anyone HAD been hassled about it. We haven't, so I was hoping they just didn't push it. I can't remember if it was a state-by-state thing about the denials; I'll have to look that up again when I've got a few more minutes.

Luckyinlife, we're in Mississippi. (Hopefully only another year or so though so it won't be an issue after that)

I would recommend all you ladies look up your state's statues and see if the same rules apply, though, just for future reference.

[DahliaRW]

The only states that don't have religious exemptions are West Virginia and Mississippi. http://www.909shot.com/state-site/state-exemptions.htm Though I don't have any idea how medicaid works (if it's state by state or national).

[Tracy]

WIC should not be impacted by vax status. Some ignorant workers often disseminate other information but if pushed there bosses usually inform them correctly. I just bumped up a thread to help this topic.
plus here is another thread:

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...hreadid=111461


but, that seems to be the case for the 48 states. i don't know about west virginia and mississippi.

[Jaydedeyz]

I'm on WIC and both my boys are on MedicAid,and I'm also paranoid about gov't assistance cuts and CPS.BUT,thankfully,NC DOES respect the religious exemption law.I got this vital info from a friend of mine who also non-vaxes.
All you have to do is write out a note stating that for religious reasons [which you DO NOT have to specify,that's personal info] you wish to not have your child[ren] vaccinated.Write out all of your childrens full names,and sign with your full name,and date it.No notary neccessary.KEEP THE ORIGINAL.If your doc's "require" it,make them a copy.WIC has nothing to do with vaccinations, only childhood nutrition.As for CPS,if I were you I'd invite them over for a playdate.Let them see how happy and healthy your children are WITHOUT toxins being injected in them.The only downside to the religious excemption law is that it's an all or nothing rule.No picking and choosing,all or none.BUT,if you choose to get a selected vax [like tetanus,for example]all you have to do is cross the state line and find a local doc's office.If they need a reason, you're visiting family and forgot to get it before you left.Vaccination records are state-by-state,not national.It's been said already,but worth repeating:look up your state's laws on vaccinations,just to be sure.I know these are the rules in NC,but check your state just to make sure.
My mom thought I was nuts when I told her I wouldn't be vax'ing my babes.She gave me the "I only raised 7 kids,what do I know?" speech.Did no good this time Ma.I sent her several websites with information about the ingredients of the most commonly used vaccines,along with several more websites showing links between vaccines and childhood illnesses and disorders.After she read one she couldn't stomach to go on with the rest,she totally agreed with me,and no encorrages other new mamas to non-vax as well.YAY MOM! [Forgive her for her stubborn ways,she raised my sibs in the non-nursing,corporal punishment,playpen using,follow-the-leader style 60's].Thankfully,I waited until the 80's to show up!
Hope this helped a little!

[StephandOwen]

My DS is on Medicaid and I have never been hassled about delaying some of his vax's. I have gotten letters in the mail from them. A "it's time to get a vax, call the doctor office" type thing. I usually ignore those. I've never been told he would be cut off if I didn't get the vaccines (which is good b/c I don't know how I would be able to afford anything else!).

As for WIC- I've got a bone to pick with them : I don't know about every WIC office but the one I was going to does do vaccines. Everytime I came in they would ask to see his card. I would show it to them and they'd tell me which ones he needed that day. I would refuse them, they'd go into their whole speech about how he needed them. Finally on the 3rd time I told them that his doctor and I had already talked about the vaccines so they didn't need to worry about them. They took his card and wrote in big letters "REFUSED" on all the ones I wouldn't let them give him that day I was only irked because I didn't say I was never going to get those for him- just not now. So now his card has "refused" on some of the vaccines and it just irks my tator! I stopped going there after that, it wasn't worth it.

[saintmom]

I got a call from a medicaid worker saying dd needed to have her "well baby check" and it was required : So i told her no it wasn't,the religious exemption form was on file at the docs,if she was ever sick we would certainly take her in but well baby checks were primarily for vaxes which we were'nt doing.It pretty much rattled her cage and I got to listen to her spiel about how only a proffessional could determine wheather my child was well or not,at which point I told her I kept up with the develpmental markers via the charts on the net and she was doing just fine thankyou.She got all huffy said that was my perogotive I replied yes it certainly was.End of conversation.I sat around wondering for two weeks wheather dd was still gonna have a medicaid card,but it's been coming in the mail every month since.No more phone calls either.
I did look through the dhs medicaid manuals online and there is agreat pressure on county managers to have a certain percentage of clients vexed etc,so I guess they feel a lot of pressure to push the issue

[Unoppressed MAMA Q]

Originally Posted by Robin926

Ack, I didn't mean to make everyone paranoid!! I just didn't know about it until I was looking at the state laws the other day, and stumbled across this info. I was just wondering if anyone HAD been hassled about it. We haven't, so I was hoping they just didn't push it. I can't remember if it was a state-by-state thing about the denials; I'll have to look that up again when I've got a few more minutes.

Luckyinlife, we're in Mississippi. (Hopefully only another year or so though so it won't be an issue after that)

I would recommend all you ladies look up your state's statues and see if the same rules apply, though, just for future reference.

don't worry, YOU didn't make anyone paranoid, a corrput gov't agency that destroys peoples' families for profit did!

as for CPS, i have been to child court in IN, primarily 'cuz my kid was vax free. totally freaked out the 'social worker'. she was ignorant enough to take me to court over it, but they had to drop the case, 'cuz avoiding vaccination does not = child neglect. to me it seems wise to have a notarized exemption on file, and know your neighbors. they are, statistically, the most likely to call CPS on you. take some cookies when you move to a new 'hood.

[Robin926]

Unoppressed Mama Q, I am so sorry you've had such a rough time! DH and I were worried about that sort of thing when we were moving here. We asked our former doc, and she seemed confident that CPS wouldn't get involved because of it. Although she kept trying to get us to schedule appts for the vaxes, knowing we weren't going to. She also gave me incorrect info and talked down to me. That's why she's our FORMER doc.

Here, the WIC office is in the health department, so they try to push the vaxes a lot more, I think. They always remind you that you can bring your kiddo there and have it done for free. As if that were the only reason I wasn't doing it.

It never ceases to amaze me, though, how much control the government thinks they can exert over your lives and your children. :