Laid-off custodian illustrates family health care needs


Laid-off Portland Public Schools custodian Mason Young and his family recently returned from a whirlwind four-day tour of Washington, D.C., where they met with U.S. senators, the surgeon general and the media to talk about publicly-funded health care programs for children.

The Youngs’ story, illustrative of what is happening across America — the middle-class workforce losing their jobs and, ultimately, their health insurance, only to be replaced by cheaper labor or workers abroad — was selected to be told to a national audience by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “Covering Kids & Families.”

Covering Kids is a nationwide back-to-school campaign aimed at enrolling more children in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid.

Young, a member of School Employees Local 140, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, saw his job of 16 years contracted out to a private non-profit rehabilitation company. A month after receiving his pink slip (and no severance package), he lost health insurance for his stay-at-home wife, Sherrice, and two children, ages eight and 10. Since he was only getting $1,600 a month in unemployment insurance benefits, he couldn’t afford to pay the $700 a month COBRA premium for health insurance.

“We went from a normal middle-class family to the unemployment line and applying for food stamps,” said Mason, who lives in the St. Johns area of North Portland. “It was devastating.”

To make matters worse, just after the insurance lapsed, his daughter, Brenna, became sick with strep throat. Sherrice took her to a free clinic for treatment. But when Brenna got sick again on a Sunday and began to spit up blood, her parents rushed her to the emergency room at Emanuel Hospital, where she received X-rays and tests. Doctors there found that Brenna had strep throat again and gave her a prescription.

Since the Youngs couldn’t afford to fill the prescription that night, Sherrice called the free clinic the following day and was able to get an appointment to have the prescription filled — a delay families with health insurance would not have to make.

But the Youngs still were left with emergency room medical bills of more than $1,000. Luckily, a local organization called SafeNet paid their hospital bill. However, the Youngs still had to pay the doctor’s bill from the hospital, which was hundreds of dollars.

It was at the free clinic where Sherrice heard about CareOregon, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). She applied and was able to get her children enrolled in the program, which is part of the Oregon Health Plan.

Under the plan the Youngs no longer need to worry about being able to receive timely health care for their kids.

“I had always taken for granted that I would be able to provide my children with basic medical care when they needed it,” said Sherrice. “When we had health benefits, I never would have waited three weeks to have my daughter seen by a doctor if her throat continued to hurt. Not having insurance affected the way I cared for my child.”

According to an Urban Institute 2002 National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF), 7.8 million children in the United States were uninsured in 2002. Seventeen million children had coverage through SCHIP or Medicaid, but at least 4 million uninsured children who were eligible for such programs were not enrolled. Among low-income families with uninsured children, the vast majority said they would enroll their children if they knew they qualified.

Urban Institute data show that children enrolled in SCHIP or Medicaid were 1.5 times more likely than uninsured children to receive well-child visits, other types of office visits and dental care. Uninsured children were three times more likely than those covered by SCHIP or Medicaid to lack a usual source of medical care and 1.5 times more likely to have an unmet medical, dental or prescription drug need.

“Now that we’ve enrolled in the CareOregon program, we have a regular doctor for our children,” Sherrice said. “We can get them in for checkups, flu shots, vaccinations and other routine medical care. Most important, when they do get sick, I don’t have to let our financial situation interfere with getting them the health care they need.”

At a Washington, D.C., press conference with the Young family, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona said, “When children have health insurance, they have better access to the basic health care services they need to grow and be healthy.”

Added U.S. Senator Patty Murray, D-Wash., “All over the country, through SCHIP and Medicaid, children are receiving the kind of care that will allow them to grow into healthy, productive adults.”

Mason Young encourages parents working or otherwise to find out if their uninsured children are eligible to apply.

“Eligibility varies by state, but in Oregon, a family of four earning $34,000 a year may qualify for CareOregon,” he said.

More than 160 organizations are working with Coverings Kids & Families to inform eligible families about the availability of low-cost and free health care coverage. Organizations representing public officials, health professionals, educators, businesses, social service agencies and faith-based organizations are distributing information through their offices and Web sites.

A toll-free hotline will connect any family in the United States to their state program. The number is 1-877-KIDS NOW.


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