Description
On any given sunny day in Davenport, Florida, you’re likely to hear laughter coming from the Steidinger family’s backyard. There, Maverick, Olive and River — the Steidinger children — can be found swinging and sliding on the family playset.
At first glance, they are the picture of regular, everyday kids. Getting here, however, has been a bit of a long and winding journey.
“As a parent, there’s nothing you want more than for your kids to be happy and healthy,” said their mom, Cecelia. “We had the happiness covered, but not the health.”
Olive is anaphylactic to dairy, eggs and peanuts. Just by looking at the sweet, loving 8-year-old, you wouldn’t know she has such severe allergies, but a health scare while traveling opened her family’s eyes to the condition’s severity.
“We’re very diligent about checking her foods, but I think we missed something,” Cecelia said. “She started experiencing hives and coughing and then vomited. She fell asleep, and we went to the ER. It got scary very fast.”
Following the scare, the family decided it was best for Olive to undergo comprehensive food allergy treatment to improve her quality of life. The treatment, however, was quite expensive and across the country.
Within a year of Olive’s ER visit, both Maverick and River would also face health challenges.
Ten-year-old Maverick needed an endoscopy for some stomach issues and is now on daily medication. River, 5, was diagnosed with asthma and needed to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. While the children were getting on the road to better health, the medical bills were a weight that kept growing.
The middle-class family’s income was too high to qualify for government programming for help but at the same time, “not enough to just throw tens of thousands of dollars, which is what that year was for us at medical bills,” Cecelia said.
With help from the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF), the Steidinger family qualified for three grants to help cover the cost of each child’s medical expenses.
“We could never have done it without the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation,” said their dad, Eric. “They were such a blessing, taking that financial burden off of us.”
Since 2005, UHCCF has awarded more than 45,000 grants valued at over $90 million. The funding pays for children’s medical expenses not covered, or not fully covered, by a commercial health insurance plan.
“We could focus on each child individually and on what they needed,” Eric said.
The Steidinger children are doing well today; each has made progress through treatment. Olive can now eat seven and a half peanuts a day, as well as yogurt and egg yolks — something that seemed completely life-threatening just two years ago.
“We are really grateful for the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation for helping us reach our health goals,” Cecelia said. “It’s indescribable.”