Christopher Roberts has had close to 25 skull and brain surgeries in his 14 years. In fact, he hasn’t had a year of life without a surgery.
Christopher’s dad, Tim, is unable to get doctors here in Virginia to do any more medical procedures on the son. They say that there is nothing more that can be done.
Christopher suffers from a dangerous skull condition that causes his skull to grow at a much faster rate than the rest of his bones.
n the past, Tim has had success getting Maryland doctors to treat Christopher. Most of the services were paid for out of pocket, which is no longer an option.
Tim now has exhausted all of his funds and is solely relying on Medicaid for help. In fact, he's so desperate, he's ready to stand on a street corner with a sign that says his son is terminal and needs financial help for surgery.
He says the obstacle is that his Medicaid doesn’t cover his son for medical attention in Maryland because he lives here in Chesterfield.
He fears because of that, he’ll just be forced to sit by and watch his son die.
“It gets to the point that we’re so broke because of all of our medical bills that I am willing to go out and hold up a sign, saying hungry, sick child, please help. You do what you have to do for your child to make sure your child survives. You have to make tough choices. You balance the choice. 'Am I going to eat or pay for my child’s medicine?', you have to make that decision," said Roberts.
Due to federal privacy laws, the agency that oversees Virginia Medicaid could not comment specifically on this case.
Craig C. Markva, with the Department of Medical Assistance Services, said in a statment that; Virginia Medicaid can cover medically necessary services provided outside of Virginia when the service is a covered service and is not available in Virginia or the individual was travelling outside of Virginia and required emergency treatment. Some services require prior authorization.
