My son has Aetna Better Health (NJ Medicaid). We’ve been trying to start pediatric speech therapy. After calling every provider on Aetna’s list, there are:
– Providers no longer in practice
– Providers that are adults only
– Providers that are virtual only
– Providers with 1–2 year waitlists
– One provider over 1 hour and 20 minutes away
Aetna’s “solution” was to offer transportation to the provider 1 hr 23 min away, which does not meet NJ Medicaid’s 30-minute / 30-mile access standard for pediatric care.
I have a licensed pediatric speech therapist who is willing to treat him, so I requested a Single Case Agreement (SCA). Instead of processing it, they continue to stall.
I filed a Network Inadequacy / Access to Care complaint with NJ DOBI today.
I am looking to hear from parents in NJ who have:
– Filed DOBI for lack of pediatric therapy access
– Received an SCA because no in-network providers existed
– Or can share how long DOBI took to resolve it
Not looking for advice to call customer service or switch plans — just actual outcomes from parents who went through this in NJ.
Thank you 💛