THE YOUNG UNINSURED / Many are at risk because of lack of access to health care. What can we do to help?

Saint Andrew’s Considers Expansion of Ministry to Children

By MILEVA SAULO, Bishop's Warden

Suffer the little children to come unto me... for of such is the kingdom of God.

terrible tragedy occurred in March. Selene Segura Ríos, an 18-month-old girl, died in Santa Ana, due to lack of health care—health care that was probably available had her parents known about the two-federal/state government plans available to provide proper coverage for children from one to 19 years of age.

Although initial reports said that Selene died receiving an illegal contaminated drug from an illegal clinic in the back of a Tustin gift store, her death was later attributed by the Orange County coroner’s of˜ce to severe dehydration due to chronic enterocolitis, an inflammation of the colon and small intestine.

Tustin Police Lt. Mike Shanahan told reporters that the "child had been sick for some time. . . . They had sought out treatment with over-the-counter-drugs before taking her to the clinic."

The parents should have taken their daughter to a real health clinic much earlier.

Does this make you angry? Would you like to see to it that this does not happen again to someone else’s child? We hope so. This is an opportunity to conduct outreach ministry that uses our gift of human presence rather than our checkbook.

Our initial goal would be to assure that all of the children at Saint Andrew’s (both the congregation and the Children’s Center) who are eligible for health care through either Healthy Families or Medi-Cal would be enrolled in a plan, hopefully by the end of 1999 or not later than the spring of 2000. We estimate that there are at least 40 children eligible in the Children’s Center alone. When that goal has been attained, we plan to reach out to train and educate others using interfaith efforts in Irvine and/or collaborative efforts with other Episcopal churches in Santa Ana and Tustin.

Once we declare our intent to participate as a community-based organization (CBO), we are then eligible for persons at Saint Andrew’s to take the free one-day training necessary to be a Certi˜ed Application Assistant (CAA). The CAAs then help eligible families navigate their way from application to the selection of a health plan that best meets their needs. The training and all related materials are provided by the 100% Campaign. This is a coordinated effort of Children Now, the Children’s Defense Fund and the Children’s Partnership, with funding by the California Endowment. The Campaign is dedicated to ensuring that all of California’s children obtain the health coverage they need to grow up healthy and strong. CAAs are paid $50 for each person enrolled.

• Why do people need help with this process? The current application process is contained in a 28-page booklet. Although the application materials are being streamlined to four pages, the process can be daunting, because of cultural barriers such as distrust of government; concern about immigrant status; and others, such as illiteracy, and lack of knowledge about choosing an appropriate health plan.

• Who are these uninsured children? In California, approximately four in ˜ve come from a two-parent family, about three in four have a parent who is employed full-time, about one third live in Los Angeles County and about one in two are Anglo. More than half have family incomes 300% below the family poverty level. More than half have family incomes 300% above the family poverty level ($49,350 for a family of four).

• Why don’t they have health insurance? These children have parents whose employers do not provide health care insurance or employers do not provide dependent coverage. Perhaps the cost of coverage is beyond the family’s means or they are children of parents with incomes above 300% of the FPL, or those who are unemployed or homeless.

• Why should we care? Because social justice is a part of our baptismal covenant. Healthy children need immunizations, regular preventive care and professional treatment for acute illnesses and injuries. The lack of health-care services can adversely affect emotional growth, development and overall health and well being. Insurance coverage is the major determinant of health care.

• How does this affect the child? Typically these children miss more school days. Health problems affect learning. Routine problems can become chronic problems leading to chronic illness and lifelong disabilities They typically go the ER, which is expensive for all of us, or they go to illegal or unlicensed clinics, or worse yet, they do not go at all.

• What can you do? Pray and consider what part you can play in bringing justice to children. You can either be trained as a CAA or work with other regarding the logistics to make this program a reality. Talk to any member of the Bishop’s Committee about how you will be involved.

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Sources: 100 Percent Campaign with assistance from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, The State of Health Insurance in California, University of California, Berkeley. Web site: http://www.100percentcampaign.org. Materials available upon request. Kent Steinbrenner contributed to this report.