Debunking
Fears about Child Health Plus at CB7
by
Sybil Maimin
The
greatest number of uninsured children live between West 166th
Street and Dyckman Street in Washington Heights. Yet free or low-cost
health insurance, Child Health Plus, is available to legal residents
ages 0 through 19 via a simple application form. Citizenship is
not required.
Federal, state and some city funds that have been made available
for the insurance go largely unused because of a dearth of applicants.
David Harris, a child advocate and member of the Youth Committee
of Community Board 7, and David Nieves of the Alianza Dominicana,
a multi-service organization for youth and families, particularly
of Dominican extraction, are determined to see this change through
an outreach program to explain to uninformed, sometimes frightened
or skeptical, mostly immigrant parents that the program can be
trusted, will benefit their children and will not harm families.
Parents’ common fears are of deportation based on information
given to authorities. Harris and Nieves explain that the program
does not communicate with the Immigration and Naturalization Service
and asks for very little information. In fact, a newly approved
program to be launched shortly, Family Health Plus, will insure
children of undocumented immigrants.
Child Health Plus is based on a sliding scale of income. A family
of four with an income of less than $27,213 will receive the insurance
free. The full premium is still much less than that of private
insurance. Enlistees are provided with a list of local medical
providers to choose from, and there are no co-pays or additional
charges.
For
information and applications, call David Harris at 212-580-5577
or David Nieves at 212-427-300l.
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
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