Parents to Congress: My child depends on #CHIP for health insurance

[riversedge]

Parents to Congress: My child depends on CHIP for health insurance


http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/11/news/economy/chip-parents-health-insurance/index.html?iid=surge-story-summary



by Tami Luhby @Luhby December 11, 2017: 12:30 PM ET



Pressure for Congress to save kids' insurance

Hazel Hoffman is only five years old, but her medical bills are already through the roof. The little girl suffers from a form of epilepsy that has sent her to the hospital multiple times with severe seizures. Her medications alone cost more than $1,500 a month.

Hazel's mother, Rachael, can only afford the care her daughter needs because she is in the Children's Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP. It picks up the entire cost of Hazel's medications, hospitalizations and lab work with no monthly premium. Hoffman, a receptionist at a preschool, would have to pay $500 a month for her employer's plan, which would only cover half of the cost, leaving them "absolutely no money" for food or basic necessities.

Hoffman, however, is terrified that Hazel may lose this vital coverage. Funding for the federal program ran out on Sept. 30, and Congress has yet to reauthorize it. Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle say they want to continue the program but are arguing over how to pay for it.

"It's really scary that your child's life is a game of football to people," said Hoffman, 30, who lives in Orland Park, Illinois.

Related: More than a million children could lose their health insurance next year

CHIP covers about nine million children whose parents usually earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private health coverage. A typical family of four, with children covered by CHIP, earns no more than $62,000 a year.

Rachael Hoffman depends on CHIP to cover her daughter Hazel's medications, which cost more than $1,500 a month.


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Bringing Perry onto her work insurance would eat up nearly an entire paycheck, Galens said. Currently under CHIP, they pay only $30 a month in premiums for their 16-year-old son.

"We struggle enough as it is," said Galens, 55, who lives in Clifton Springs, New York, and has two older children. "I can't even bring myself to imagine how devastating this would be."

Even families who consider themselves middle class say they can't afford to pay for health insurance for their kids. ...................................

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Appealing to the GOP is a waste of time, they want people like this to die.

They think healthcare is a limited resource and they want it for themselves.

I dont know how to change them, dont think you can.