As the November presidential election rhetoric heats up the issue of medical insurance promises to play a prominent part. Nationwide over 43 million U.S. residents lack any medical insurance including 8.5 million children.
To counteract the increasing trend of children without access to medical care, Los Angeles County in partnership with a coalition of health care providers and community organizations recently launched The Children's Health Initiative to expand medical, dental and vision coverage for over 150,000 kids over the next three years.
Pacific Institute for Community Organization (PICO), a national organization that brings together local faith-based organizations to advocate on issues affecting their communities, is working at the grassroots level to help enroll as many of L.A. County's 327,000 uninsured kids as possible.
"Not only are we trying to enroll families in the program, we are working to create a base of families that will stand together and fight for years to come," said Lisa Milton, director of Community Voice LA, an affiliate program of PICO.
Milton noted that it has initially been difficult to bring some people into the program because of the ongoing INS raids in Los Angeles' heavily Hispanic neighborhoods.
"People are wary, and free and low-cost clinics are seeing fewer patients because of the raids," said Milton. "This is why it's important we have an organizing component in our work. It helps people fight their fear and stand together as a community."
Since the June launch of the program over 8,000 kids between the ages of 6 and 18 have enrolled.
"It's a huge victory that over 2,000 new children are getting access to health insurance every month in Los Angeles," said Milton.
The Hollywood Interfaith Sponsoring Committee (HISC), an organization comprised of churches in the Hollywood area, recently co-sponsored a community health fair at Blessed Sacrament Church, which offered diabetes and blood pressure screenings as well as children's dental exams and medical screenings.
"Our latest records show that 112 kids enrolled in the insurance program as a result of the health fair," said Robert Untiedt, executive director of HISC. "During the fair 40 kids took advantage of free dental screenings and 180 people were tested for diabetes."
Community Voice LA and HISC are working with local Catholic churches to sponsor health fairs all over the archdiocese.
"We want every child who is eligible enrolled in the program," said Milton. And that means getting the word out that immigration status does not determine eligibility.
This program is intended to provide insurance to families that do not qualify for federal Medi-Cal or a state program because of income or immigration status. The coverage is available to families who earn up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level - about $55,000 for a family of four - and to those who are undocumented immigrants with similar incomes. Parents pay a fee based on income level.
"There is a sinking middle-class in L.A and even parents who are making $50,000 a year can't afford to buy private medical insurance," explained Milton.
More jobs that pay middle-class wages are not providing medical benefits for its employees leaving families, who by outward appearances live a middle-class life, without health insurance or the ability to obtain it.
In Los Angeles county over 1.3 million adults are uninsured and statewide 6.72 million lack medical insurance. Research shows that half of all uninsured individuals are working and nearly 80 percent of them are part of working families.
"We have to fight injustice one step at a time and the Children's Health Initiative is just the first step," said Milton. "Someone working 50 hours a week deserves health insurance."
Come November, all eyes will be on California to see if its voters uphold the first ever legislation to mandate that employers provide their workers with family medical insurance.
The state legislature signed bill SB 2 into law last October. The law requires companies with 50 or more employees to offer health insurance and requires companies with more than 20 employees to offer coverage if the state gives the company a tax credit.
But opponents to the bill claim that it would cost businesses more than $5 billion a year and have put Proposition 72 on the ballot. A no vote would stop the new law from going into effect.
If the new law does go into effect it would be the largest expansion of health care coverage in California since Medicare and Medicaid.
Opponents say the cost of the law would be high but the cost of "getting care in emergency rooms and clinics is higher," said Milton. "It's cheaper to provide insurance to get preventative care than wait for people to show up in the emergency room." |