Reader question:

I’m a worried grandmother whose granddaughter has been getting sick a lot lately, but her parents don’t have the money for health insurance nor do they have the money to take her to the doctor. What can I, as a grandparent, do?

Millie

I’m glad you asked.

You would be surprised by how much exactly a grandparent can do, because according to state laws in Florida, they are not entirely without rights as concerns their grandchildren. It may be true that a grandparent is not allowed to apply for health insurance for a child, even when that child does not have child health insurance or any real way of getting it, but there are still some things that the grandparent can do.

According to Florida Statute Chapter 743.0645, you have the right to get health care on the behalf of your grandchild. This means that you can take your granddaughter to the emergency room or the doctor’s office, and can consent to major things. This right only comes, though, after the doctor on duty has tried many times to get in tough with the parent, and the parent has also not declared that the child can not be treated in such a way.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.