In Harms Way

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Childrens Defense Fund of Texas
In Harms Way
True Stories of Uninsured Texas Children
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Who are the 200,000 Texaschildren who have lost
CHIP coverage?
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ABOVE THE LIMIT
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Everett Family Arlington

• Family earns 35,000 a year in pest control.
  Winter months are slow.
• Mother is wheel-chair bound with MS and has
  significant healthcare expenses.
• New CHIP guidelines do not count children over 18
  as family members. Even though their full-time
  student daughter lives at home, she is not
  counted as part of the family size. As a result,
  they are 100 over the income limit for a family
  of 3.
• The entire Everett family is uninsured.

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ASSETS
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Dumas Family

• Single mother works full time and attends school
  part time through the GI Bill as a veteran.
• Her three children ages 8, 6 and 4 were
  disqualified from CHIP because she co-signed for
  a friends vehicle.

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Garcia Family

• 2 parent family lives in Beaumont. Their old
  home suffered extensive damage from Hurricane
  Rita.
• The family received an insurance check to rebuild
  their home, which was counted as an asset. Ten
  year old Gabriella lost CHIP after 7 years of
  continuous coverage.
• Gabriella missed 29 days of school last year
  because of severe migraines and skin allergies.

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CHIP provides confidence and peace of mind.
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RED TAPE
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Devante Johnson, age 14 Diagnosis Advanced
Cancer of the Kidneys

• Mother submitted renewal 2 months before Medicaid
  expiration.
• Medicaid renewal sat for 6 weeks without
  processing.
• Devante determined eligible for CHIP -
  application transferred to Accenture.
• Paperwork was lost in the system and despite
  numerous calls and faxes, Devantes mother was
  unable to track the application.
• State Representative intervened to restore
  coverage.

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• When he lost coverage, he could not receive
  regular treatment and relied on clinical trials
  for care.
• Eligible child was uninsured for 4 months while
  tumors grew.
• Devante died on March 1, 2007 of complications
  from cancer.

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Rohrer Family

• Tried for 5 months to apply for CHIP without
  success.
• CDF intervened to get the children covered in
  September 2006.
• Matt suffers from manic depression and ADHD and
  his sister Tasha suffers repeated fractures due
  to a brittle bone condition.
• Paid 50 premium in September, more than the 35
  required.
• On October 25th, received a letter requesting
  they pay their premium by July 17th or the
  children would lose coverage.

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The fact that childrens health insurance
programs are in place but children are unjustly
being denied benefits should boil every Texans
blood. -Karen Rohrer
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Cannon Family

• Teri Cannon is a stay at home mom with 2 young
  boys. Her husband is a PhD student at Rice.
• 4 year old Jason receives CHIP and 1 year old Ian
  has Medicaid.
• Jason went without coverage for 4 months while
  renewing CHIP.
• Family was Medicaid income eligible but their
  assets made them eligible for CHIP.
• Jason has chronic asthma with a major episode
  every 6 weeks usually brought on by a common
  cold. While uninsured, his medication ran out
  and he was sick several times.

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I want lawmakers to know that our family is not
abusing the system. Someday well be
professionals, earning just as much as they do.
Right now were a student family and theres no
other affordable option out there. -Teri
Cannon
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Shaw Family

• Grandparents from Galveston adopted their
  grandsons in 1999. Both boys have chronic kidney
  conditions and need ongoing medical attention.
• Lost coverage for six months last year while
  their grandmother tried to renew CHIP.
• She submitted paperwork on time, paid the
  required enrollment fee and called numerous
  times, but the insurance cards never arrived in
  the mail.
• While uninsured, one boy broke his arm in two
  places. Grandparents paid out of pocket for care
  and drove him to a hospital 120 miles away in
  Livingston.
• Doctors put the boy in a splint and sent him
  home.

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Bazile Family

• The Bazile family was forced to evacuate from
  New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
• LA CHIPs 30 day process from start to finish
  turned into a yearlong nightmare for Texas CHIP
  processing.
• The family did not receive any communication for
  a month and a half after applying and was
  required to provide numerous forms of missing
  information.

Sydney and Paris Bazile remained uninsured one
year after the storm because paperwork was
mismanaged.
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What happens when children go without coverage?
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Sorrels Family

• Two parent working family from Bridge City (east
  of Beaumont).
• Kevin went without coverage for 2 months.
• His medications for Cerebral Palsy cost 1200/
  month.
• Family cut back on food and rationed medication
  while he went without coverage.

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Shelton Family

• Two parent working family lives in Carrollton,
  north of Dallas.
• 9 year old Tommy suffers from Graves disease and
  Type I Diabetes.
• Lost coverage and went without medical care for 3
  months.
• Graves disease spiraled out of control because
  parents could not afford doctor visits.
• Result Tommy became hyperactive, unable to sleep
  and exhausted.
• Grades plunged from As to Ds. Family went to
  ER for care to get sample medications and are
  struggling to pay the 1,000 hospital debt.

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You can get signed up but you cant remain on
the program it is an incredibly frustrating
process. There needs to be accountability on what
taxpayers are spending. I deserve better. I need
accountability for the way lawmakers are spending
my money.
-Barbara Shelton
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Childrens Defense Fund
Barbara Best Texas Executive Director 4500
Bissonnet, Suite 260 Bellaire, Texas 77401 T
713-664-4080 F 713-664-1975 www.cdftexas.org