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SAN ANTONIO • Representatives of Catholic Charities and the archdiocesan Office of Social Concerns joined an Alamo City congressman, local healthcare providers and families to kick-off “Cover the Uninsured Week” May 10 by joining the “Restore CHIP Campaign.”
The event, held at the Jose Cardenas I Head Start Center on Ruiz Street, informed families about changes to the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and encouraged them to re-enroll their eligible children when necessary.
Sister Michele O’Brien, CCVI, chair of the Health Care for Every Child Coalition, served as host for the afternoon press conference. She said, “CHIP is a program about which we are very proud. It is designed for working parents who make too much for Medicaid but don’t have employer paid insurance.” |
She noted that more than 500,000 children were on the CHIP rolls in September 2003, but that number has now dwindled to 377,000 since cuts by the Texas Legislature took effect last fall.
Congressman Charlie Gonzalez spoke about the importance of families re-enrolling their children in CHIP every six months, and said he supported the restoration of dental, vision and mental health services to the program.
“Ill-advised state budget cuts have made it harder for Texas families to get and keep their children in the CHIP program. In just a matter of months, the number of uninsured children in San Antonio has increased by over 7,000. In some cases, children have lost their CHIP coverage in the middle of their treatment,” Gonzalez said. “Without health insurance and the chance for preventative care, many families have no choice but to take their children to emergency rooms where costs end up being much higher.
The congressman cited some statistics concerning the crisis of the uninsured:
— Nearly 44 million Americans have no health coverage, including 8.5 million children.
— More than one in four uninsured adults has had severe problems paying medical bills, forcing them to change their way of life significantly.
— Eight out of 10 uninsured Americans are in working families.
— More than 5.5 million Texans are uninsured. Among Texas children, 22 percent are uninsured, 26 percent are covered by CHIP or Medicaid and 51 percent are covered by a parent’s insurance.
— Bexar County has the third largest uninsured population in Texas, behind Harris and Dallas counties.
Gonzalez added, “CHIP covers critical health care services like hospital care, surgery, transplants and emergency services, but it also covers regular health check-ups, immunizations and prescription drugs. Eligible families cannot afford to not keep their children enrolled in the program.”
Following the lawmaker was Dr. Fernando Guerra, director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. The doctor said that there were pockets beginning to emerge in the community with low immunization rates, reflecting what is happening in the state.
“We have made tremendous progress, but we need to continue. As so many programs are being dismantled, the cumulative cost that we will see will be enormous,” he said. “Twenty-five percent of the pregnancies in our community are to single women. To take away these benefits will result in very significant consequences, such as higher rates of premature births, lower birth weights and an increase in the infant mortality rate. As families begin to be moved out of services, these measures will get worse. We cannot in good conscience allow so many women and children to be at risk.”
However, Dr. Guerra concluded that, “We are probably going to have a significant compromise in this safety net.”
To work against that possibility, Sister O’Brien asked Gonzalez and others at the center to sign a “Restore CHIP Campaign” commitment form. “We need you to express your right to elected officials to say ‘no’ to these cuts,” she said. “This is not going to happen if we do not express our opinions. It’s very important to get informed.”
In addition to the press conference, other Cover the Uninsured Week activities included the first annual “Breakfast of Champions” honoring the efforts of local children’s healthcare advocates. The event was held at the Radisson Hotel Market Square the morning of May 12.
Sister O’Brien was presented with the first annual “Praise Be” award to be named in her honor for her commitment to children’s health care. State Senator Leticia Van De Putte and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and the Bexar County commissioners were also honored for their advocacy efforts at the state and local levels to help restore the CHIP program.
Awards were also presented personnel from the four insure-a-kid school district champions: Edgewood, Harlandale, Northside and San Antonio, in support of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation insure-a-kid Texas schools outreach initiative. The previous day those district’s school nurses and social workers were recognized for their efforts.
George Losoya, San Antonio insure-a-kid director, and Cindy Sanchez, CHIP/Medicaid Consumer Education director, presented gold-star paperweights to representatives of the four insure-a-kid districts.
The breakfast gathering was sponsored by Community First Health Plans, Methodist Children’s Hospital of South Texas, Superior Health Plan and CHRISTUS Santa Rosa.
CHRISTUS Santa Rosa also hosted a prayer service at its downtown facility on May 13 in conjunction with the week’s full schedule of activities.
“Our goal this week has been to increase awareness of both the opportunities to enroll families in appropriate health insurances and the impact of uninsured families here in San Antonio,” said Toni-Marie Van Buren, director of Public Policy for the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, one of the event’s organizers. |