Jude- Our practice (my husband and I) provide the money for our employees to get health insurance. At this time what that means is that we have a capped amt. that is given to them in addition to their salary to pay for their portion of their health insurance under their spouses plan. At this point the money pays for 100% of their insurance. I wish we could provide insurance for the children also but it would be to expensive (but they are all covered under the dads plans) and I do not charge for any of their pediatric care. Is that what everybody else is doing. Regards- Kim Burlingham, MD rural peds. Texas ----- Original Message ----- From: <> To: <UnknownSender@UnknownDomain> Cc: <> Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2002 3:52 AM Subject: Re: health insurance for children > Insurance is a sore subject for me... I am a professional nurse, yet also a > member of the "can't afford family health insurance" group. And ironically, > my employer is a hospital-associated pediatric group! (So much for advocacy > by pediatricians or hospital administrators!) > > I was paying over $500 per month for family health insurance when I simply > could no longer afford it - but of course, I was not available for Medicaid > because my income exceeds the "welfare" guidelines. It was a serious > struggle - and because of other circumstances, it finally became an > impossible one. > > AFTER I lost my health insurance, my kids became eligible for the state's > federally subsidized "basic" health insurance - at a mere $19 per month. > Reason for eligibility? Because they were uninsured! And all uninsured kids > are eligible! Gee, if I had known that, I would have given up the battle a > lot sooner! > > I genuinely love my work - and I also like it where I work - but as you can > see, being a health professional and an "insider" in pediatrics does not make > the struggle any easier. It also does not provide greater advocacy for > change. Our hospital publicly boasts that it is financially secure while > other hospitals are struggling financially. Gee, I wonder why?!!! > > Judy T RN > group.