Family Testimonials

Prepared by the Children's Defense Fund of Texas CHIP Cuts Family Tracking Project

CHIP enrollment declined by more than 150,000 children in the last year. All children still enrolled lost dental, vision, hospice and some mental health benefits. Listen to the children and families that lost CHIP coverage and benefits.

They are people like Janice Vasquez, who was profiled in the Houston Chronicle. Janice's husband makes about $550 every week plus commissions delivering linens. He works hard, often over-time, but his job doesn't provide health insurance. Until recently, 2 year old Vivian was enrolled in CHIP, and she needed that health coverage. Vivian was hospitalized for a week for serious pneumonia last Thanksgiving. Some of the medications cost $100 a piece, and her mother never could have afforded them without health insurance. Because of the new way that income is being calculated, though, the Vasquez family makes $37 above the limit to qualify for CHIP. They can't afford the $500 - $600 a month that it would cost to pay for private health insurance. That's an entire pay-check. A month after losing CHIP coverage, Vivian fell and her parents feared that she had broken her arm. Fortunately, there was no serious physical damage, but the financial issues are grave: the Vasquez family is now faced with an $800 emergency room bill and do not know how they will pay for it.

Or there's "Anna." Anna and her husband are a two-parent working family that cannot afford private health insurance for their children. She makes $8 an hour working at a health clinic; he makes $9 an hour catering airplanes. Recently, the family paid $200 out of pocket for their daughter's eyeglasses and as a result couldn't pay their light bill. The family lost electricity for two days during the hottest month of the year, and had to put their children in the bathtub in the middle of the night to keep them cool.

Or there's "Lynne" a five year old girl with cerebral palsy who can't get any dental services through CHIP. A few weeks ago, Lynne had a swollen mouth due to new teeth growing in, but the family couldn't afford to go to the dentist. Her mother washed the child's mouth out with baking soda to reduce the swelling and used Tylenol to reduce the infection. Lynne has a mouth full of cavities that have gone untreated.

For more information, contact:
Children's Defense Fund of Texas
4500 Bissonnet, Suite 260, Bellaire, Texas 77401
713.664.4080
713.664.1975 (FAX)
www.cdftexas.org