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2018-2019 CSAC Funding Application PROGRAM COVER PAGE Organization Name: Sunshine Physical Therapy Clinic Executive Director: Lynne Gates House E-mail: sunshinept@bellsouth.net Address: 1705 17th Avenue Telephone: (772)562-6877 Vero Beach, Florida 32960 Fax: (772)562-3153 Program Di recto r: Lyn ne.Gates House E-mail: Ighsunptc@bellsouth.net Address: 1705 17th Avenue Telephone: (772)562-6877 Vero Beach, FL 32960 Fax: (772)562-3153 Program Title: Early Therapy Intervention for Uninsured and Under -insured Children in Indian River County Priority Need Area Addressed: Early childhood development, birth to age five, focus on physical, social, emotional and cognitive development, improving financial accessibility. Brief Description of the Program: The Sunshine Kids Support Fund provides access to multi -disciplinary rehabilitation services in physical, occupational and speech therapies, to children with disabilities due to injury, disease or birth defects who have limited insurance coverage or who lack access to managed care providers. Long-term outcomes for children who receive these treatments include increased functionality, improved mobility and communicative function, and in many cases, increased learning capacity for an enhanced quality of life. The goal of the Sunshine Kids Program is to allow immediate access to rehabilitation services for all children, regardless of insurance status. Funds received would be used to cover staff salaries to provide therapy services for these children. The overall cost to provide a visit for the Sunshine Kids`Program in 2017 was $82.14. The conversion in the Slate of Florida from standard Medicaid to Medicaid Managed Care has left many children in this area with no access to therapy providers on their insurance plan. Many providers have elected to opt out of the Medicaid program entirely, due to low reimbursement and cumbersome authorization processes. Sunshine continues to provide services to children covered by standard Medicaid and Children's Medical Services (CMS), but most children have been arbitrarily placed with one of the managed care programs. These managed care programs reimburse at levels below the Medicaid rate ($71.44 per visit), which itself is significantly below what is required to provide the services. The downward trend in insurance reimbursement leads Sunshine to seek outside funding to underwrite these medically necessary services.