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working poor & life chances
"It’s stressful, but I get it done. I have to prepare for the coming school year one month in advance before it starts. For December, I start budgeting in November.” That’s how Taquesha Allen, 26, mother of three describes having to work and take care of her children.
Allen is single and works 40 hours a week as an assistant manager at Cinnabon. She has children 2, 3 and 8 years-old. Allen said she takes up to eight buses in one day between getting her children to and from daycare, and then getting herself to and from work.
Allen’s 3-year-old has epilepsy and her medical bills alone are $200 every two months. Allen said her income is about $1400 a month. Because of Allen’s income level, she qualifies for the state Children’s Health Insurance Program.
In a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CHIP is the biggest step forward in health insurance for children in more than 30 years. The program was created under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to help working families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid and too low to afford private health insurance.
According to the report, more than 10 million children are uninsured. In 2000, 3.3 million children were insured by CHIP. A report published by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission reported 477,361 children were insured by CHIP as of November 2001.
Participants in CHIP pay an annual fee of $15 or $18, which covers all the children in the family. Some services covered by CHIP are hospital care, medicine prescriptions, emergency services, eye exams and dental care. Preventative services are check-ups and vaccinations.
Allen said her children have been insured under CHIP for about five months. She said she heard about the program from a nurse while her 3-year-old was hospitalized at Texas Children Hospital.
Before CHIP, Medicaid insured her children, would only cover 80 percent of the bills, Allen said. She said she switched to CHIP because they pay 100 percent of the bills.
Aside from healthcare, Allen said daycare costs her $250 a week. The children’s father pays half of that. Considering the child that’s epileptic, she said finding a day care that can handle her daughter’s medical condition is difficult.
Allen said hopefully her daughter will grow out of the epilepsy, but if she does not, the medical expenses will increase. CHIP insures the children until they are 18, Allen said.
To qualify for CHIP a child must live in Texas, be an U.S. citizen, be under 18 and be uninsured for at least 90 days. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CHIP covers children in families whose income is above the eligibility of Medicaid, but less than 200 percent of the poverty level. From the report in 2000, the federal poverty line for a family of four was just over $17,000.
Collista Franklin, 22, mother of one, works full-time as a security officer. She said although she has spent $300 in the past two months in medical expenses for her child, she does not struggle.
Franklin said her daughter is also insured by CHIP, but when the insurance at her present job begins, that will cover her daughter instead. Franklin said when the child was younger, she was in and out of the hospital, but at the time she was insured by Medicaid.
Recently she had to take her daughter to the emergency room and was forced to spend $150 out of pocket. Since she had to pay the bill herself, the medicine was free.
She said while she is at work, her child is at daycare, and afterward, her mother keeps the child until Franklin gets off of work. She pays $50 a week instead of the normal $125 because she already knew the daycare provider.
Franklin said she currently lives with her grandmother and plans to return to school in January. She said she will take her classes in the morning, so she can work in the evenings.
“I can honestly say I’m a focused individual. I plan ahead and then I have my family. A lot of people don’t have that. That’s why I don’t struggle,” Franklin said.
LaToya Williams, 20, mother of one, said working, going to school and taking care of her 2-year-old means that she had to cut out the extras. Williams said she works part-time and attends school part-time. Her boyfriend currently works full-time as a carpenter, but in the spring, he will begin school.
She said while her boyfriend is still working full-time, their child is insured by his insurance and that will continue when he starts working part-time because of the length of time he’s been there.
Since Williams has family members who own a daycare, she said she only has to pay half the normal amount: $40 instead of $80 per week.
Williams said right now everything is alright, butt she does not know what things will be like when her boyfriend begins school since they both will be in school and he will be working less hours.
© Copyright World Internet News 2006-07
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