Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
Search Saved

Georgia program

A care coordinator and help with uncovered costs (Children’s Medical Services)

Children’s Medical Services helps children under 21 with eligible chronic conditions and costs other coverage leaves unpaid.

What it is

Children’s Medical Services helps children under 21 with eligible chronic conditions and costs other coverage leaves unpaid.

This program can help organize care and fill particular gaps. Medicaid, PeachCare, SSI or foster care can pass the financial test. The local office must still decide whether your child’s condition qualifies.

Eligibility rules
  • Children must be under 21 and live in Georgia. The local office checks the medical condition.
  • The income line is $5,623 a month for three people and $6,793 for four (July 2026 to June 2027). Medicaid, PeachCare or SSI passes it automatically.
  • Medicaid, PeachCare, SSI or foster care establishes financial eligibility but does not establish medical eligibility.
What you get
  • A named care coordinator, without a family charge.
  • Approved equipment, supplies, travel and specialty services that other coverage does not pay.
What the help includes
  • Support can also include translation, adaptive technology and transition planning. Approval is specific to the service.
  • The program pays for approved help rather than giving the family cash or replacing insurance.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the social worker for a Child Health Referral Form to your public-health district’s CMS office.
  2. Have ready: diagnosis records, insurance cards, income proof or a benefit notice, and the specific unpaid need.

Your public-health district’s Children’s Medical Services office, listed by Georgia DPH · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • An approval assigns a coordinator and names the services CMS will pay. The local office can explain the expected timing.
  • A refusal may concern the diagnosis, income or a particular requested service. The office can explain which test was not met.
Good to know

Georgia's list of covered conditions does not name leukemia, but the list is not complete and the local office decides. Ask for a written answer before counting on it.

Other details
  • The district office can route a referral through child-health intake when it has no direct CMS line.
  • The state directory revised August 2025 lists LaGrange at 706-298-7711 and Dublin at 478-275-5119 or 866-230-9497. The social worker can confirm the current referral route. For Augusta, East Central Health District child-health intake or the state CMS office can locate the right coordinator.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could CMS accept our child’s diagnosis and help with any uncovered equipment or travel? What are the benefits and drawbacks, and would you recommend a referral and help us with it?”

Why I’m asking: I want help coordinating care and understanding which specific expenses another program could cover.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Name the gap and hand over income or coverage proof.

Your social worker

The social worker sends the Child Health Referral Form and identifies the unmet need.

The care team

Supplies the diagnosis and the order or recommendation for the service.

Who decides
The local Children's Medical Services office in Georgia's Department of Public Health.
Ask your social worker
“Can you send the referral to CMS? Please ask whether leukemia is covered and which of our costs they can help pay.”

How to apply

First step: Ask the social worker to send a referral to the CMS office for your public-health district (the phone list is on dph.georgia.gov/CMS and in this record). Name the equipment, travel or service you need.

  1. Send the Child Health Referral Form naming the exact gap.
  2. Ask the office to check leukemia against its list.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Child Health Referral Form to the local office

What to gather

  • Diagnosis and insurance cards
  • Income proof or the Medicaid, PeachCare or SSI notice
  • The unpaid bill or the equipment order

How long: No published standard. Ask the office.

What a yes looks like

A coordinator assigned and a written service plan naming what CMS will pay.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask whether it was the diagnosis, the money test or the service. A financial pass through Medicaid does not settle the diagnosis question. The local office is the one that decides whether leukemia fits its list.

Watch out

  • CMS's public list names benign tumors and other chronic conditions, not leukemia or cancer, and says it is not exhaustive. The local office checks the diagnosis. Ask, do not assume.
  • Below 247% the child is normally on Medicaid or PeachCare already, so the value is the coordinator and the costs insurance leaves unpaid, not coverage.
  • Its income table rolls every July 1 (FY2027 for four: $6,793 a month).
  • Each public-health district has its own CMS office. The phones here are published numbers (August 2025 directory and district sites), not phone-tested. Fulton, Clayton and DeKalb list shared child-health lines; Augusta's direct CMS line was not found (district office 706-721-5800).
  • Published referral contacts: LaGrange district 706-298-7760; Dublin district 478-595-5116. These are program contacts, not confirmed direct lines for a named coordinator.

Dates that change this

2026-07-01: The CMS income table runs July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 10, 2026.

What it is worth

A named care coordinator. Approved equipment, supplies, travel and specialty services other coverage does not pay. Income limit 247% FPL ($6,793 a month for four).

  • $247 (unless the child has Medicaid, PeachCare, SSI or is in foster care) — Income limit
  • $81,510/year — Family of 4, FY2027 table, yearly
  • $6,793/month — Family of 4, FY2027 table, monthly

Covers: Care coordinator · Medical services and equipment not paid by insurance · Specialty clinics · Transportation · Translation · Adaptive technology · Transition planning

What it costs the family: None. Service-specific approval.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age max exclusive
21
Georgia residency
yes
Income percent fpl max
247
Automatic financial routes
Medicaid; PeachCare; SSI; foster care
Eligible medical condition
Checked by the local office. The DPH list ('include, but are not limited to') names asthma and lung disorders; neurological disorders including seizures, benign tumors and hydrocephalus; orthopedic and neuromuscular disorders; some vision and hearing disorders; diabetes and other endocrine and genetic disorders; craniofacial anomalies; congenital cardiac conditions. Leukemia, cancer and malignancy are neither named nor excluded; 'The local CMS program can also assist families with finding out if their child meets the medical eligibility.'

Decisions this site cannot make: Medical-condition eligibility · Service and funding approval

Expect friction on: Diagnosis check by the local office · Referral form

The trap: CMS's public list of conditions names benign tumors and other chronic conditions, not leukemia or cancer, and says the list is not exhaustive. The local office helps families find out whether the child's condition qualifies. Ask, do not assume.

Where I read this

← Back to your options