Do you have children who have been under or uninsured?

Have you experienced difficulty getting medical help for your child or children?  Have government programs like Medicaid and SCHIP helped your child receive medical care? We want to hear from you.

Many parents like you are under or uninsured and face barriers to accessing doctors, dentists, and preventive care.  But this summer, Congress is expected to move ahead in reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This program presents a major opportunity to protect the health of millions of children.

As Catholic Charities USA works with your Members of Congress to develop additional policies that nuture, protect, and care for our children, we need your voice. Share stories below describing the obstacles and challenges you face in getting adequate medical help.

Comments

[Starr Shepard]

I was without insurance when I was pregnant with my second child. I applied for Medicaid and was denied because we made $100 per month over the limit. Well, you can't buy health insurance, especially if you're pregnant, with $100 per month. So, that put us into that wide category of people who can't afford private coverage but who don't qualify for assistance. I had a planned home birth, and thank God my daughter was born healthy. I've heard terrible stories of kids who are born with problems and who don't have insurance - then they can never get insurance. I just thank the Lord that I now have a great job at Catholic Charities of Idaho, which provides good benefits, though they're still almost unaffordable ($450/mo. for my spouse and 2 kids).

[G..Fall]

We are a Catholic family, with 6 children, only 1, 14, left at home. My husband is a college degreed engineer and I am a college degreed /lic. teacher. In the last 6 months we went from a family completely able to take care of itself and even continue assisting our grown kids, on his salary of 63,000.00 a year to a family about a month , now, from losing the only thing of value ( with all the equity used)- our scaled down, 2 bedroom home. We had a misdiagnosis of cancer, a rare, untreatable, barely being researched, cancer, in January, just after moving here (PA) to lessen some of the pain that lingered in our old state, because 2 of our children were killed in an accident there. We wanted this child to attend HS without the teachers and fellow students weeping at the sight of him, recalling the others of ours whom had attended there, or they knew because they knew our family.After that diagnosis, we were advised to attend ANY clinical trial we could FIND, which we did, at our own expense, (including travel, loss of income from husband's job- days taken to help me were docked to the minute, despite his exec., salaried position, all the expenses of travelling the country to 7 clinics,in 7 dif. states)and by leaving our remaining son behind. After 5 moths of this nightmare, a Dr. thought things didn't add up, did MORE tests and discovered that there was NOT a cancer cell there, that the illness was serious, but 100% treatable and with NO DEAATH SENTENCE. We are so very, blessedly, happily gateful, despite having endured the brutal mental, physical, finacially and family pain and hardship of the whole thing, as well as facing the fact that we had now put OUR LAST cent, into fighting something we didn't have!!!! The good news prevailed, though. The children, oldest to youngest were elated, and so happy to have a bit of their "security" back. They had endured such hideous loss and pain, it was a real gift to tell them the original Drs. were wrong. Upon getting back to living, all of our providers, trash, gas, water, subscriptions, ~ you name it, were called, made aware of the news and we suggested payment options to get back on track. All, with a singular exception, a PA Electric Co op in Adams County, which refused arrangements, demanding immediate FULL payment of arrears., accepted our arrangements and wished us well. Having all of our payments auto-deducted and deposited straight from my husband's check each pay period left us with less than 200.00 a week. And we have housing, food, a car payment, ( we also had our elderly car konk out on us midway...) our child's medications , costing over 500.00 a month AND the medications I needed for the REAL problem. Not to mention gasoline, clothing, school and athletic - related , regular day to day expenses. Please know, we hold no credit cards, so we have not been chronic overspenders. If we are unable to pay for it, we didn't/don't get it. Always our belief. Then, the employer DID it. They jumped our health insurance weekly premium by 300.00 %, to almost 150.00 a week , incresased the deductible from 500.00 to 3,000.00. There were no options, except OUT or IN. Simple math will allow anyone to see what is left. Nothing but RED. Negative pay stubs??!!!!! So far, we have been graciously given money toward our son's medicine (200.00) access to a food panty, furniture ( we had given ours to the church - except bedrooms and dining rooms, to, again, leave some pain behind,) from a generous local mission, but we "qualify" for NO ASSISTANCE from the state we live in due to our "gross" income. NEVER has the word GROSS been more acurate. No negative pay stub, no evidence of this bad dream, fighting a non-existant cancer, none of the documentation of our child's need for daily medication could assist anyone federal, state or locally governed in helping us. We fell thru the proverbial CRACK! The only "people" able to help at all were those NOT associated with the country BOTH of our father's AND my husband fought wars for, that we vote in, exercising that wonderful right, that houses our church, let's us attend and PRACTICE our faith, and for which we have also felt so blessed. Since the true diagnosis and the new company year and "hike" in all ins. benefits, we have not BEGUN to reach the deductible, so every Dr. visit, prescription, medical need of any kind, is ours for FULL, retail, PRICE. EVEN the pharmaceutical companies' assistance programs cannot assist us, due to their OWN "income guidelines." The electric has been turned off twice in the last 2 weeks, only turned back on with a few dollars and BEGGING, SOBBING AND PLEADING on my part. Our son has begged us not to ask our own church for help, because" we know everyone there, and all of my friend's will know". Respecting that, we have not. Teens are incredibly sensative and we don't wish to push a child who has already lost so much. We pray, we thank Him constantly for the TRUE diagnosis, and implore His will be done, but we cannot help but believe something IS NOT RIGHT with this picture. We finally made the hideous decision to terminate our health insurance at least getting that money back each week, only to be told that we don't "qualify for disenrollment" until NEXT APRIL!!! Because of "section 125 IRS applications" !!! It took me a day to figure out what that even meant! At this point, we are without another thought ( we will NOT sue the original Dr's we find the thought perverse and immoral.) If we HAD been able to cancel that ins. we COULD have gotten our child covered by CHIP. Now we cannot do that. I apologize for the length of this, but had to say all to give a complete picture of how quickly POVERTY/homelessness can happen to almost anyone. If anyone has a helpful suggestion, perhaps you could post it here. I will keep looking as long as the electrical service is on. By the Grace of God, goes any one of us..... Isn't that a close recitation? How true, and fast it has been. God Bless and God help us, one and all. Sign us up to END POVERTY !!