County’s human services department to take more than $6 million cut
One family worries about how it will survive without insurance program
At 14 years old, Jeremy Bowen has something that pumps him up on a continual basis. It’s an insulin pump that helps the Lincoln teen stay active despite a juvenile type I diabetes diagnosis that has already threatened his young life on more than one occasion. “It gives me more freedom,” Jeremy said. “Before I was on the pump I used to have to take 15 to 20 shots a day.” Jeremy’s mother Deena said she’s able to afford the pump and Jeremy’s other medical needs because of the Healthy Families insurance coverage provided to her through the program. “If I had to pay for everything with no insurance, it would probably cost about $3,000 to $4,000 a month,” Deena Bowen said. However, the Bowens face the possibility of losing that funding. Cuts from the state budget have left the county with $17.1 million less to spend. While several departments are having their budgets slashed, health and human services is taking the largest hit. As one of the largest programs in the county, the department will lose about $6.7 million for the upcoming year, according to Richard Burton, director of Health and Human Services. Additionally, the department is anticipating another loss of about $2 million to $3 million of dedicated tax revenue for health and human services. “It really means potentially devastating impacts on a number of residents in our community,” Burton said. Burton estimated between 4,700 and 5,000 Placer County children receive Healthy Families insurance coverage. Those families, which are typically low-income, will come under increased scrutiny and eligibility requirements will become more difficult, Burton added. “It likely means that some of them will lose their eligibility as they go through the reauthorization process,” Burton said. Deena Bowen said she doesn’t know what she would do without the insurance coverage. Her son Jeremy can now play football for his school and take part in other activities he enjoys including running and bike riding around town. “Somebody asked (Jeremy), ‘What would you do with a million dollars?’” Deena Bowen said. “He said, ‘If I had a million dollars, I’d buy all my medications so my mom wouldn’t have to worry.’ Coming from a kid who’s almost lost his life a couple times … it’s kind of emotional to talk about it but without that program, we’d be in a real hurt.”
Other health and human services programs impacted: - 350 seniors and disabled residents are anticipated to be cut from the In-Home Supportive Service program. Another estimated 225 residents in the program will have “significantly reduced services,” Burton said. - 300 county resident who benefit from the substance abuse treatment programs available will have to look elsewhere. Burton said funding for those programs has been eliminated. - $800,000 less will be given to fund the county’s child welfare services program. That means about a 50 percent increase in the number of cases child protective service workers will have to handle, Burton said. “That translates to less time with the families, less time with the kids,” Burton said. “It means there’s more difficult in helping families become self-sufficient and independent of county services as fast as possible.”
Overall, Burton said his department serves about 50,000 to 60,000 residents a year. He said most of the time county employees meet with resident who are at a “point of crisis” or those who cannot help themselves. He said for the most part, many clients are served on a short-term basis. “These kinds of drastic state reductions in funding are easily going to be impacting over 20,000 of those residents in some way,” Burton said. “It’s reducing our ability to provide the expertise they need to be self-sufficient again and live independently of county services in the community.” The Journal's Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com.
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Placer County's Heath and Human Services Department has done an excellent job in providing services at a very low cost without the fraud and incompetence that plagues other counties such as Sacramento.
How does that stuff cost 3000-4000 a month? Must be a big markup and profit. This is an example of the truely needy. The drug issue is seperate... I am tired of ppl screwing up and that falls on the backs of others. That need fixing!
Lonewolf. Here is why it costs 3000-4000 per month. Millions of dollars were spent to develop the drug or the technology. A limited number of people need it. To recover costs and make a small profit companies have to price the product to recoup their costs. Over the counter drugs are a lot cheaper because the R&D costs have already been recovered and they are used by millions of people.
No... it's so expensive because there's a copyright on the drug and the company is allowed to charge whatever they feel like charging. Certain drugs are locked in with insurance companies. For example, my insurance will only allow me Clairitin for allergies... Clairitin doesn't work... too bad... that's what they offer. The company Claritin makes a killing by working in cahoots with the insurance company.
It's called rogue-capitalism and it's killing Americans.
Oops.. I mean "the company that makes Clairitin."
Ok, here's what we do. We set the prices that drug companies can charge for their products. Guess what there will not be any drugs produced. Even the copyright on drugs runs out and then generics are available. What companies will invest in R&D if they can not recover their costs and make a profit. If you can't afford the drug you need call the manufacturer of that drug. All the drug companies offer reduced rates to people who need a drug and can't afford it.
So... historically speaking... scientists have never invented anything without profit in mind?
The real issue is that Jeremy absolutely needs the medication and pump. Anyone question that? OK, in the current economic climate he may not receive the help he needs from public resources. True? Now What?
Anybody who is a student of the first "great depression" knows that when someone was in dire need the community itself joined together to see that person through the rough times. Neighbors and citizens pitched-in to help. That, my friends, was the quality and integrity of the people of that era.
The question today, given this depression, will locals rally together to help someone in need? Do not count on government to be the cure-all to these problems. Neighbors helping neighbors helping neighbors is what is, and quite well may be, the only resource available today. Are we up to matching the qualities and integrity exhibited by our parents and grandparents?
Saliadin. You are absolutely correct. The only inventions that we know about made money for someone. Can you name an invention that did not make money that we know about?
rabidog, I wanted to say, I truly appreciate your comments on this story. I couldn't agree with you more, I truly mean that.
Jon, you nailed it. Period.
Why does every story about health care or budget cuts start off with some story about someone in trouble? There are lots of people in this world with problems. When I read a story, I want the facts of that story, not some line about someone it is affecting. We know it is affecting a lot of people, and were sorry about that, but give me the facts. This world is run on profits, no profit, no product. I am not going to invest dollars in something I am not going to get a return on. Sorry folks, thats the way it is.
Beause it is profit driven the drug manufactures have cornered the market. It doesn't matter about the R&D costs. They are going to try and get as much money as possible even if it only costs pennies. They eliminate competition and swallow up competitors.
If drug makers want the right to the American market then they should reign in costs to the consumer. I say give them their profit up front. Wait we do that. It's called tax incentives. The market is one sided, what the market will bear is what has caused so many problems in American's health care affordability.
It is great that we can all sit and agree that the drug companies and manufactures have cornered the markets and make medicatoins out of reach to people in general. However, there is a bottom line here and that is the health and welfare of our families. Parents, chidlren, grandparents and everyone else that suffers from our bad health care system. For those that don't know, Healthy Families is a program that pays a good portion of medical coverage ( no dental or vision) and only for the children of WORKING families. A familiy of 4 can make between 4299-5373 per month to qualify. www.healthyfamilies.ca.gov. These families MUST have an income from employment, and must pay a portion of the premiums and Co-pays. The article was done to demonstrate how the choices our elected officials are making, effects families direcly. Generic medication is not always available or an option in reference to the pump use. How many of us have needed assistance in one way or another? Healthy Families takes a little bit of the ease off the worries of health care coverage, leaving this family with other things to worry about. Way to go Jeremy. Stay active!! Dont let a disease you didnt ask for.. bring you down.
This family one of many who seem to be doing everything right. They're working, raising terrific kids and living a good life. It breaks my heart that in even with his stance on health care and the need for reform the Govenor is cutting these types of programs. If rabiddog is starting the fund raising to help Jeremy's family and other's in Placer Cty in the same situation I will donate monthly!
Our health care system, not unlike our financial system is badly broken. We have the manipulators behind the scenes making billions, while the marionettes at the end of the strings are being dropped to the stage, many left to to die or decay in the mire of their less that perfect health condition. Many are those who are born with or develop a disability/injury in their lifetime. To deny adequate health care to these people is inhumane to say the least, and increasingly, downright criminal. There must be a better way to the control costs and rampant abuse of our current failing health care system. It is up to us to make our voices heard from the cheap seats, before we find ourselves miring upon a darkening stage.
"Our health care system, not unlike our financial system is badly broken"
Yes those of us with insurance subsidize those that dont, and our rates keep going up, why should I be paying more for the uninsured in insurance premiums and increased taxes? Why do we reward people to have children? questions I dont have an answer for but am tired of shelling out $$...
I believe you are referring to the welfare system which I agree with your opinons on that completely. People should not be on welfare collecting money from us tax payers and popping out more kids they cant afford. However with the families that are covered under the healthy families program, these are working families with jobs that do not offer medical coverage or if they do, the coverage is so expensive it isnt possible to cover the children too. Lets be sure that we are keeping those issues separate. The article speaks of a family that is doing everything they can to surrvive and the parents are both tax paying people that still cant afford to do what they MUST do for their children. That is where the health care system is broken. Stop my $ from going to people that dont want to help themselves, dont stop the coverage for the people that are doing everything they can and it still isnt enough.
"The article speaks of a family that is doing everything they can to surrvive and the parents are both tax paying people that still cant afford to do what they MUST do for their children."
The ariticle says nothing about her working nor meantion the father or if he had a job...where is the father? 2 people working and none of them have health insurance? if that were my child, and his medical condition, id make sure i had a job that had some kind of health insurance to cover my children and their medical condition, but call me responsible and accountable....and if i didnt have insurance to cover the first child's medical condition, i certainly would not have another....
Well auburnite, I am glad to see that everything works out in your favor. In fact the father IS employed and living in the home supoorting his wife and his family and was at WORK when this last minute article was done. That is also why the third and eldest child wasnt picured. . All three children were already here before Jeremy was diagnosed with this disease.So to say something as ignorant as " if i didnt have insurance to cover the first child's medical condition, i certainly would not have another.... " is well..NOT "responsible". So if everything in your world is going the way you want / need it to then good for you!! However here are clearly MILLIONS of others that dont have that luxury. Maybe you should write to the person that DID the article to find out more informatoin before you just ASSUME that the father is absent and dont know all of the details. By the way, insurance was an option when the kids were younger and because of this economy . It isnt now.
If you didnt see the reporters address, here it is : jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com
So much for "responsability and accountability."
I would like to say that this article was done to raise awareness of the issues with health insurance that hard working people can afford when they have children with serious medical needs. For people to post comments which are rude and heartless is terrible. Let me say it should have been the reporters job to point out that the parents of this child do work, are married, and provide the best they can do in these economic times. They did not ask for this interview nor are they asking for insulting opinions from foolish people who know nothing about them but what they read in a newspaper article. This family works for a living, raise 3 beatiful boys, attend church services and help in many things for others. They are american citizens who were born in our country and deserve a little more respect. I guess they could go apply for social securfity like alot of people do. They have there kids pretend to have mental issues so they qualify for government funds. They are referred to as stupid checks. They are honest hard workers who also love there children. They get good grades in school and are good children. I know all of this because I am the dad's mother and I too have worked and raised my children to be good productive citizens. To those who posted encouraging messages on this article I thank you. To the rude people I hope your family never has an issue with a serious illness. Please keep your rude comments to yourself. God bless all and thanks for letting me vent.
To Auburnite:
GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE! I absolutely cringe when I read posted comments such as yours. How the hell do you look in the mirror and feel good about yourself.
Your assumptions about this family is unbeleiveable and so unfair. I wonder what traumatic event in your youth left you such an uncaring and unfeeling carmedgeon.
To Rabidog:
I love your comments regarding this post and others from the past. You are undoubtedly a fine and upstanding person. You seem to really show compassion for others in our community. Thank you. Unfortunately, we have way too many people in our County who are unsympathetic to their fellow neighbor.
The post submitted by "Auburnite" is an excellent example of callousness at its best....
PaulSmithson: Unfortunately, based on the blogs, we just do not have the integrity possessed by our parents and grandparents. Sad.
Auburnite....I won't call you "responsible and accountable" as I do not know that you are. For all I know you're sitting at home watching tv collecting your AFDC checks for 4 kids. I DO however know the family and so made my comment form a position of being informaed...not just shooting my mouth off online. Your trite, simplistic and insulting view of people you don't know anything about is sad and silly. Do you always assume the worst? With the attitude you presented I'm guessing you probably HOPE the worst is true because it will bolster your hateful view of those who have less than you.