Stop having kids!

Its just another example of the erosion of the middle class - you either have money or not. The rest are the working poor.

Battle for kids insurance help

Tuesday, June 26, 2007
By BERNETTE PEARSON
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Pauline Castellano works as a home care aide with Jersey City's Metropolitan Home Care Agency, struggling for almost a decade to get health care insurance for her two boys, ages 17 and 10.

Making less than $9 an hour, Castellano has another baby girl on the way.

"I was in constant fear of what would I do if my children got sick?" she said yesterday during a press conference sponsored by Service Employees International Union (SEIU-1199) at Jersey City Medical Center.

During the press conference, U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6th, and Albio Sires, who is a former West New York mayor, discussed their efforts in securing $50 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which in New Jersey would be NJ FamilyCare.

"If we are successful for this program we can get a billion dollars for New Jersey," Sires said.

Jersey City Medical Center treats the largest number of charity patients in the state, said the hospital's president, Stephen Kirby. It also has the second largest number of uninsured patients in New Jersey.

"The biggest problem we face in the U.S. is health insurance," Pallone said.

The idea behind FamilyCare is to cover children whose parents make too much for Medicaid but not enough for private insurance. The program was started 10 years ago with Pallone's support. The funding is set to expire in September.

If SCHIP funding is not renewed, the federal government would provide $4.5 billion to the program, Pallone said.

With that amount, "we wouldn't be able to do much more than what we are doing now," Sires said.

Six million children are eligible for SCHIP funding but are not enrolled, Pallone said

Sires said if the funding is approved, New Jersey officials will work harder on getting the word out about FamilyCare.