Families urge lawmakers to save insurance program
| Tuesday, Jun 16 2009 04:58 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Jun 16 2009 04:58 PM
Images:
Two local families using the Healthy Families program spoke at news conference on how cutting the program would affect them. From left is the Poteet family, Andre, 11, Lucas, 9, mom Tracey, then Vanessa Colin, 9, mom Santa Hernandez, Cecila Colin,8, and Hellen Colin,14.
Santa Hernandez gives her daughter Vanessa Colin, 9, a hug before speaking how cutting the Healthy Families program would impact the health of her three kids.
Parent Tracey Poteet glances back at her boys Andre, 11, and Lucas, 9, as she spoke at the news conference concerning the cutting of the Healthy Families program .
Santa Hernandez with daughters (from left) Vanessa Colin, 9,Cecila Colin,8, and Hellen Colin,14, was one of the families who spkoe on how cutting the healthy Families program would affect them.
Santa Hernandez with her daughters (from left) Cecila Colin,8, Vanessa Colin, 9, and Hellen Colin,14, addressed the media on how cutting the Healthy Families program would affect them.
Tracey Poteet can't afford private health insurance for her 9 and 11-year-old sons.
Her husband is covered by his employer, but adding the boys to that plan was "outrageous" given the size of his full-time salary and her part-time wages.
Their other option was Healthy Families, a health insurance program for low-income children that serves about 26,000 Kern County kids. It's for people who make too much to qualify for no-cost Medi-Cal but can't afford private coverage.
For $32 a month, Poteet can rest easy, knowing her sports-playing boys are covered in an emergency.
Poteet shared her story at a press conference Tuesday designed to show lawmakers the real families this program supports.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed cutting Healthy Families to fill California's estimated $24 billion deficit.
Lisa Page, spokesperson for the governor's office, said eliminating the program would save an estimated $247.8 million in the 2009-2010 fiscal year and about $322.4 million the following year.
A state budget panel rejected the program's elimination Monday but did vote to cut it by $70 million. No final decisions have been made.
"I'd like to sit down with Arnold and say, 'What the hell? What are you thinking? Why are our kids worth less?" Poteet said. "It's almost like our kids aren't worth it."
Page said the governor understands the "very real consequences and human faces" behind these cuts, but with a $24 billion deficit there are no good options.
"This is a cut the governor would have never even considered -- but this is our worse-case scenario," Page said. "This is the worst economic crisis since the Depression."
Jan Hefner, director of the Children's Health Initiative of Kern County, said about 900 new Kern County children enroll in Healthy Families each month. The proposed $70 million cut would prevent new children from enrolling.
Private insurance can run around $300 per child per month, Hefner said.
Poteet pays $255 a month for her own private health insurance with a $1,500 deductible. She said it would cost a similar amount to cover her sons.
"There are no other options for these families," Hefner said.
