Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

I have a daughter that was diagnosed with Lupus SLE.  As an employee of a large corporation, it is easy to obtain coverage for a child with a pre-existing condition.  You may have to fight just a bit for it, but the coverage is there.  However, when I became unemployed, and COBRA was just unaffordable, I had no choice but to seek affordable health care insurance for my daughter and for myself. 

Seeking and obtaining coverage for myself was simple enough.  As a 50 year old female with no health problems to speak of all insurances were available at a reasonable cost to me.  However, in attempting to obtain coverage for my daughter, 19 years old and considered a disabled dependent, it was IMPOSSIBLE.  Not one health care provider would touch her.  She was diagnosed while under Kaiser and treated under both Kaiser and HealthNet.  Yet, neither would touch her.

I sought help from the county of Sacramento and was able to obtain Medi Cal, at the cost of $1050 per month.  I was only making $1600 per month, at the time.  Finally, months later, I was able to obtain help from Childrens Services.  Based upon my annual income, I made in by the skin of my teeth. 

Under current policies and procedures, children like my Brittany or even adults with a pre-exisiting conditions don’t stand a chance.  I can’t tell you how many tears I have shed over this dilemma.  My daughter has a short window of opportunity that will run out soon enough and she will be left crippled for the rest of her life or until an insurance company is able to pay for a needed hip replacement.  Now at 20, she feels like her life is over. 

She is a beautiful young woman.  She’s had some bad breaks in life.  I hope there will be an answer to her prayers through the measures you propose. 

Thank you for moving forward to correct our broken health care system.

Elaine Brown

On behalf of Brittany Bender