Meet Esther Contreras
SEIU Local 1021

"I am a teacher's assistant, serving children and families through Head Start in California. Raising two children on my own, I have to work two jobs to make ends meet. I am fortunate enough to have health insurance for myself but I cannot afford to cover my kids. Right now they get their care through Healthy Families but I worry with California's budget crisis they'll soon be cut and without healthcare coverage."

The status quo is not an option.

For Esther to cover her kids through the Head Start program, she would have to spend in excess of 12 percent of her modest income. That is not affordable for a single mother making only $18 per hour.

Esther's alternative, Healthy Families, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in California, is in jeopardy. California's dire economic situation has led the state to cut back on the number of kids who can receive insurance through Healthy Families--at exactly the time families and kids need it most.

How reform will help Esther and her family
Under both the House and Senate legislation, Esther will be able to keep her current insurance and her children's healthcare coverage will no longer be at the discretion of state politicians and how much state money is set aside for CHIP. Instead, there will be a national guarantee that children and families of modest means will have coverage like CHIP available to them regardless in which state they live. Also, slight changes in the wages or hours worked by parents enrolled in the program will not disrupt that coverage
for children.