Good afternoon and thank you, Speaker Pelosi, for inviting me here today. I wanted to share my experience with SCHIP and explain why this bill is important to so many.
We were not ready for Alex's early arrival, nor the costs associated with the many complications he suffered as a result. Thankfully, Medicaid and SCHIP were there to make sure my son got the care he needed.
In the first two years alone, his medical bills were over $800,000 – he had multiple emergency room visits for breathing and feeding problems ... he required a feeding tube, special formulas, medications and even surgery.
When Alex was born, because I was a student, I relied upon Medicaid to cover his extensive medical needs. When he turned 3, I enrolled him in SCHIP. That program's higher income eligibility allowed me to seek full-time employment. My family now has private health insurance through my employer, and Alex also has Medicaid to cover services that our private insurance does not include.
The help that my family received came at a time when we needed it most. For the first 6 years of Alex's life, he visited the emergency room a total of 12 times and was admitted 7 times. He has received continuous medical support from numerous medical specialists and therapists. Alex's medical care has cost well over $2 million all before his 7th birthday.
There is no way we would have been able to manage without Medicaid and SCHIP.
My volunteer work with the March of Dimes has shown me that many families of premature infants lack the coverage to meet all of the medical care our fragile babies require.
The SCHIP bill passed by the House today promises that same help will be there for other families.
I want to thank Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues for understanding the economic burden families are suffering, and I urge the Senate to pass the SCHIP bill swiftly for the millions of children and families who depend on this program. I look forward to President-elect Obama signing the SCHIP bill as one of his first acts as President.
- Kathy Paz Mingledorff
