Bringing health care within reach

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- When her children get sick, Rosalia Pinon faces a tough

decision: take them to the hospital, even though the cost could put the

family home in jeopardy, or bring them to a clinic she doesn’t trust.

Service charges put hospitals far out of reach of Pinon’s family’s

income level, but community clinics are often so crowded she doesn’t feel

her children get the individualized care they need.

“They always prescribe the same medicine for them, and I just don’t

think it works well for my children,” she said.

The clinics also cost Pinon a day’s work because even with an

appointment, she says she waits for hours before her children are seen.

And then there is the cost of the medicines.

“Sometimes, I go to a grocery store and buy medicines from Mexico that

aren’t very good,” she said. “Sometimes there is just no other way. The

cost of my house, food and everything is just too high for anything

else.”

Illegal prescription drugs could be dangerous, but at times they are

all Pinon said she can afford.

Pinon is one of many Costa Mesa residents who don’t think they have

adequate health care.

According to a survey just released by St. Joachim Church in Costa

Mesa, a member of the Orange County Congregation Community Organization,

120 of 200 Spanish-speaking congregation members did not have health

insurance.

Across Orange County, about 400,000 people are uninsured -- the

majority Latinos or low-income families, according to a UCLA study.

A decrease in affordable housing in the county has made health

insurance a luxury for many working families, said Corey Timpson,

spokesman for the community organization.

Housing, taxes, food, child care and transportation cost a family of

four an estimated $3,121 per month, according to an Orange County health

needs assessment. Minimum wage pays only about $1,000 per month for a

40-hour work week.

Pinon’s family is more fortunate than many, since her four children

have recently been accepted into the state Healthy Families program,

which provides health care for children from low-income families.

However, the program doesn’t cover Pinon or her husband and she is

worried about her family’s ability to keep up with the $220 monthly

payments.

To help Pinon and others in her situation, the Orange County

Congregation Community Organization, a countywide collaboration of

churches, is lobbying to obtain health advocates and nurses for its

members, to expand the Healthy Families program, to include health care

for parents, and to help organize more nonprofit community clinics.

A bill to expand the Healthy Families program to parents is being

considered by Gov. Gray Davis, said state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana),

who supports the bill.

“Parents are the working members of the family and if they do not

receive adequate health coverage, our communities suffer,” Dunn said. “We

are in a health crisis mode and need to expend a lot of our time and

energy to resolve this issue.”

There are other efforts being made to help people who aren’t eligible

for Healthy Families, but can’t afford health insurance.

Julie Poulson, interim director of the Orange County Health Care

Agency, has promised to station two health advocates and one nurse at the

organization’s churches.

Details like the placement of the advocates and nurse have yet to be

worked out, but St. Joachim’s congregation is hoping to get one of the

advocates and the nurse, said Paty Madueno, a church member.

“We’ve been really active, working to make a difference, and we

deserve this reward,” she said. “They would be available to all Costa

Mesa residents, not just our church members. And Costa Mesa is in need.”