Medicaid Mess

Today I took the boys to the doctor for their 1-year and 2-year check-ups. We had had to switch doctors earlier in the year because the Medicaid for children in Foster Care switched to something called STAR Health and the doctor we had been going to wasn't in the network. (It was quite an ordeal finding a new doctor, but that's another story.) Now that we've adopted them, they still qualify for Medicaid because they are a sibling group, but they revert back to traditional Medicaid and we can go back to Dr. Lopez (who we preferred). I waited to schedule Joe's 2-year check-up until now for two reasons - so he could go back to Dr. Lopez and so I could schedule Daniel's appointment at the same time. Well, the problem is that Joe's September Medicaid card doesn't say he's due for a check-up, and the receptionist at the doctor's office told me he couldn't get one if the card didn't say he was due for it (because he already turned 2 in August). I explained the situation, but she said there was nothing they could do except schedule Joe for a consult instead of a check-up. Fortunately Dr. Lopez gave Joe a check-up anyway and gave him his vaccinations, but it's enough to make me seriously consider putting the boys on our own insurance. We'll have to do it anyway for Kiki if we adopt her because she won't qualify for Medicaid anymore. I don't need the government telling me when I can take my children to the doctor.