UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Commemorates 10,000th Medical Grant

• UnitedHealthcare kicks off grant awareness campaign in Northeast Florida by donating Grins to Go bags, children’s joke books to Nemours Children’s Specialty Care
• Grants help families pay for children’s medical expenses not covered, or not fully covered, by a commercial health insurance plan

PHOTO 1: UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation medical grant recipients Jake and Cole Tattersall, next to mom Peggy Tattersall, share a story with David Lewis, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of North Florida, as Lewis and the family get ready to give dozens of Grins to Go activity bags to other children at Nemours Children’s Specialty Care on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

PHOTO 2: Lauren Corn, audiologist, Nemours Children’s Specialty Care; Peggy Tattersall, the twins’ mother; Gary Josephson, M.D., Department of Surgery Chairman and Pediatric Otolaryngologist at Nemours Children’s Specialty Care; David Lewis, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of North Florida; and Drew Horlbeck, M.D., Otolaryngologist at Nemours Children’s Specialty Care (back row) join with twins Cole and Jake Tattersall in celebrating the 10,000th medical grant awarded by the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation.

PHOTO 3: Nemours Children’s Specialty Care patient Christian Williams thanks UnitedHealthcare CEO David Lewis for his Grins to Go gift.

The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF) commemorated its milestone 10,000th child medical grant with grant recipients Cole and Jake Tattersall at Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, where the Jacksonville twins received their care.

Since 2007, UHCCF has awarded 10,000 grants valued at more than $29 million to children and their families across the United States. Grants are typically used to help pay for medical services and equipment such as physical, occupational and speech therapy, counseling services, surgeries, prescriptions, wheelchairs, orthotics, eyeglasses and hearing aids. Parents or legal guardians may apply for grants at www.UHCCF.org, and there is no application deadline.

The 10,000th grant was received by the Tattersall family. Parents Eric and Peggy used the grant to help pay for updated hearing aids for their 5-year-old twin boys. Cole and Jake were diagnosed with hearing loss at just over a year old, and have been wearing hearing aids ever since. Gary Josephson, M.D., Department of Surgery Chairman and Pediatric Otolaryngologist at Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, and the boy’s caregiver, Drew Horlbeck, M.D., Otolaryngologist at Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, attended the grant celebration.

“We were thrilled to hear that we received not just one grant from the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation, but one grant for each of the twins. The grants have enabled us to purchase hearing aids with more updated technology, and we are already seeing the boys respond to sounds they weren’t hearing previously. We can’t wait to watch as they continue to enjoy the activities they love so much – soccer, the beach, playing with their older brother – but with better access to the sounds around them,” said parent Peggy Tattersall.

To commemorate the 10,000 UHCCF grant milestone, the foundation plans a year-long awareness campaign to help spread the word about its medical grant program so more families can apply and receive grants.

UnitedHealthcare employees are kicking off the campaign by delivering 10,000 children’s joke books this fall to youth-based community organizations and children’s health centers in cities across the country. The “Little Book – Big Laughs Joke Book” was published by UHCCF and brings giggles and grins to children young and old.

David Lewis, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of North Florida, joined UnitedHealthcare employees in delivering to Nemours patients the “Little Book – Big Laughs Joke Book,” published by UHCCF, along with Grins to Go™ activity bags designed to help make a child’s day a little brighter and to encourage reading among kids.

“On behalf of the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation and our partners at Nemours, it has been a privilege to meet such a wonderful family as the Tattersalls and to celebrate the 10,000th children’s medical grant. We look forward to helping thousands more children in the next year and beyond,” Lewis said.

About UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation
The UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides medical grants to help children gain access to health-related services not covered, or not fully covered, by their parents’ commercial health insurance plan. Families can receive up to $5,000 annually per child ($10,000 lifetime maximum per child), and do not need to have insurance through UnitedHealthcare to be eligible. UHCCF was founded in 1999. Since 2007, UHCCF has awarded 10,000 grants valued at over $29 million to children and their families across the United States. UHCCF’s funding is provided by contributions from individuals, corporations and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) employees. To apply for a grant, donate or learn more, please visit www.UHCCF.org.

About Nemours
Nemours (NAH-mors) is an internationally recognized children’s health system that owns and operates the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and the Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Florida along with major pediatric specialty clinics in Delaware, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Established as The Nemours Foundation through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, Nemours offers pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy and prevention programs to all families in the communities it serves. For more information, visit www.Nemours.org.