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Health Coverage for All Children Campaign
CDF's Health Coverage for All Children Campaign, a national, state, and local initiative to guarantee comprehensive health and mental health coverage for all children and pregnant women in America.
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Nedbalek Family
After the children lost their health insurance, the family struggled to put food on the table.
The Nedbalek family lives in rural Granite Shoals, Texas on an unpaved road with limited services. The father is a crew chief at a surveying company, and the mother, Amanda, cares for her three children, ages six, five and 18 months. The children had been enrolled in Medicaid (a federal program that provides health coverage for individuals and families with low incomes) since birth. However, when their coverage came up for renewal in January 2006, they were rejected from Medicaid and told to apply for SCHIP (another federal program to cover children in families with incomes that are too high to qualify for Medicaid). For a couple of months the girls were dually enrolled in both Medicaid and SCHIP, causing billing problems which were subsequently corrected. In July, Amanda applied to renew her 18-month-old son's Medicaid coverage, and upon denial, was told to apply for SCHIP. This time the application was never received, and after several mailing and faxing attempts, Amanda was informed that her family's income was too high and that all three children would be removed from coverage in October. She was also told that she had never paid the girls' premium payment, even though Amanda had sent in proof of funds withdrawal.
Out of desperation, Amanda enrolled the children in health insurance at her husband's job. The coverage cost $450 per month for September and October, approximately 17 percent of the family's income. The costly private health insurance caused financial hardships for the family. They subsisted primarily on Ramen noodles, as they could not afford groceries. The father then changed jobs for better pay in November, but his new employer did not provide any coverage at all. The children lost coverage again. While uninsured, one child broke a tooth and the other developed a 104 degree fever. No doctors would see the uninsured children, and they went without treatment.
SCHIP was finally reinstated in December when it was discovered that the Nedbaleks had been recorded as a family of three, instead of five. Amanda is grateful to have the coverage restored, but worries about what will happen when the children come up for renewal.
Millions of other families in America have similar stories of navigating the confusing and cumbersome process of Medicaid and SCHIP and being caught up in red tape and unable to renew the health coverage their children desperately need. CDF is working hard to ensure every child and pregnant woman has access to affordable, seamless, comprehensive health and mental health coverage and services through its Health Coverage for All Children Campaign.
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