EVERYTHING
FOR YOUR FAMILY
Health: Birth to 5
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You’re a good driver, but accidents happen, so there’s automobile insurance. You expect to live as long as the average person, but want your family provided for – just in case you don’t. So there is life insurance. You are healthy; your kids are young and healthy too. Do you really need health insurance or is it one more payment that no one will miss? The concept of insurance is easy to grasp, but hard to stomach. It’s protection against a future possibility – what could happen but hopefully never will. Many employers offer health insurance programs, although the employee usually contributes for family coverage. What if you’re self-employed, without full-time status or lose your job? Perhaps your child is healthy, so you stop making the monthly payments and the insurance cancels. Paying money for something that you might never need can feel like throwing money away. But there are good reasons why health insurance should top your list of things competing for a piece of your hard-earned income. Unlike auto and life insurance, health insurance isn’t just for the future or large-scale disaster – it’s also for the here and now, the daily, preventative care of your family. It helps pay for well-child check-ups, immunizations, and treatment for minor illnesses and injuries so that your child can learn, play and grow. At non-crisis visits, the doctor makes sure your child is developing normally. Any concerns about hearing, vision, dental health, physical or mental development can be caught early. Identifying possible problems early means early treatment, illnesses that stay minor, and the best possible outcome for your child. In 2005, most Orange County children had health insurance (about 90%). Yet the percentage of children covered by their parent’s work-based insurance is declining. Half of all children in California had health insurance through their parents’ jobs in 2005, down from 55% in 2001. According to Mary Jo Hooper, executive director of the Children’s Health Initiative of Orange County, “A child’s good health is the foundation for a lifetime of opportunity and success.” Studies have shown that families with health insurance for their children are more likely to make those regular doctor visits, and five times less likely to visit the emergency room with a sick child. A child without continuous coverage is more likely to have delayed or unmet medical care, unfilled prescriptions, no usual place for care, and no doctor visit during the course of a year. According to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, whether or not a child had health insurance was a bigger factor for getting care than family income, race or ethnicity, or a child’s health status. Having health insurance is not the cure if you can’t get the services your child needs. So the Children and Families Commission of Orange County is working to support and increase the number of health providers that serve young children. If you’ve got health insurance for your child, congratulations on making this important investment in your child’s health and development. It’s important not only to make those monthly payments, but also to use your coverage and take your child for regular visits to the doctor. If health insurance hasn’t made it to the top of your priority list, move it up! Your child may be eligible for free or low-cost health insurance, and there are several organizations that can help you enroll. This article was supplied by the Children and Families Commission of Orange County. Information: occhildrenandfamilies.com. RESOURCES Children’s Health Initiative of Orange County: Information about insurance for all children and help with applications for all government sponsored and alternative programs for middle- and low-income children. Call 714.246.8737. CalOptima Kids: Healthcare for children of working parents who earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal but cannot afford private insurance. Call 888.587.8088 or visit caloptima.org. 2-1-1: A comprehensive referral system linking Orange County residents to health services. Call 2-1-1. |
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