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Once in a while, a friend meets you exactly where you are.

It is the message greeting Wyoming families who turn to Casper-based Jason’s Friends Foundation for help paying medical bills when their child is diagnosed with cancer, or tumors in the brain or spinal cord.

Christine Robinson, executive director of the foundation, said when families first arrive, the last thing they want to think about is how to pay for their child’s treatment. She pointed out in just the past two years, deductibles families must pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in have skyrocketed.

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"I just remember looking at someone’s enrollment form and they had insurance, both parents were working," Robinson recounted. "Their deductible was $10,000. And thinking out loud, how does a normal person pay that unexpectedly, when everything, your whole world, has been overturned?"

Jason’s Friends recently started a grant program covering a family’s full insurance deductibles. The foundation helps families pay for travel expenses, as patients typically must go to Colorado or Utah for specialist care.

Funds have also been used to pay for surgeries, prescriptions, wheelchairs, counseling and more. Families who have to take time off work can also get help paying utility bills and rent.

UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation is another source offering grants to pay for children’s medical expenses not fully covered by insurance. In the past 20 years, the foundation has awarded $80 million in grants to families of more than 40,000 children.

Scott Otto, assistant executive director of the foundation, said the funds can cover prescriptions, co-pays and even emergency room visits.

"Grants can be awarded up to $5,000 per child, per year," Otto outlined. "They can apply each year, year over year, up to that $5,000 amount, and up to $10,000 lifetime."

To be eligible, he noted families must have commercial health insurance but added four of five families who apply have no connection to UnitedHealthcare. UnitedHealth Group has come under public scrutiny for its billing practices, and in the past 12 months ending in June, its gross profit was more than $88 billion. Officials with the foundation note the charitable arm making grants is a separate entity.

UnitedHealthcare contributes to our fund for reporting on health care.